Friends

Lately I have been looking back at my life and realizing the importance of good friends. Friends who love you for who you are, not what you have. Friends who support you and lift you up when you feel lost and confused. Friends who will pray with you, pray for you, and encourage you to keep on praying. Friends who offer advice that is true and of the Lord. And friends who will walk together with you throughout this journey of life. Friends who keep you accountable and help you draw closer to the Lord. That is the type of friend I always prayed for.

Throughout my High school years I struggled with finding this type of friend. The girls I saw around my campus were pretty girls with a pretty face but what they did on the weekends was not attractive. Many of them settled. They settled on things like partying, drinking, drugs, and sex. I came from a small private school, so this was all pretty new to me. There were times where I could of come so close to settling for all of that and giving in to a unsatisfying way of life but I knew it wasn't worth it. I did make some bad decisions during those years and when I think back today, it would of been a lot easier if I had had a solid group of girl friends. I went through most of my high school years feeling pretty alone and didn't feel like I fit in. I was a Christian girl and my morals and my love for Christ meant more to me than settling for "friends" who would lead me down a path of destruction.
It says in 1 Corinthians 15:33 "Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." and also in Matthew 7:15 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it."
First of all, the Lord warns us that if we spend the majority of our time with those who are constantly living in sin and returning to the same old ways...then that will change our character. Who your closest friends are will determine who you really are. Also He warns us that there are two gates in life. The first one is narrow and hardly anyone takes that path. The second is wide with many people but that gate leads to death. Even though it may be harder to do the right thing and stay on the narrow path...in the end the reward is eternal and abundant life.
I encourage you all to examine who your close friends are. If you have a passion to take it a step further in your relationship with the Lord you must surround yourself with like-minded friends, not people who are constantly dragging you down with them into sin. I am not saying to abandon those friends...still love them like Jesus does and share them the truth and the light. But remember what God says, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in Him."