Lately I’ve been thinking about how wildly impressionable we humans are. It’s not always a bad thing, but I think it really is the truth.

One study I read suggested that you’re more likely to have warm and favourable thoughts toward someone you’re talking to if you’re holding a warm drink at the same time. Wow, talk about impressionable!

That’s why your friendships matter.

In 1 Corinthians 15:33 Paul quotes an ancient poet and urges caution: “Bad company corrupts good character.” Then in Proverbs 13:20 we read, “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.”

So my first question to you is this: Who are your friends?

And my second question is, do they chip away at your faith, or do they fortify your faith?

I’m not saying that you should only ever interact with people who just believe the exact same things that you do. What I’m saying is that peer pressure—in terms of our values and behaviour—continues to have an impact on us no matter what our age is.

If your friends are really supportive and full of God’s hope, that’s amazing. Consider this an affirmation.

But if not, maybe you need to widen the horizon of your friendships.

1. Who are your friends?
2. Do they chip away at your faith, or do they fortify your faith?

“Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.”

By Matthew Ruttan