Good friends make us better people

Good morning, everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Living with joy”

Our Bible verse for today: “Join in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and pay careful attention to those who live according to the example you have in us.” Philippians 3:17 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Good friends make us better people”

Choose your friends carefully. Your mama told you so and so does the Apostle Paul here in Philippians 3:17. It’s a fact of human nature that over time we become like those we associate with. Paul taught the same lesson in 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Bad company corrupts good character.” Hang around with bank robbers and soon, you too will be robbing banks. Spend your time with a bunch of little old ladies making quilts and soon you will probably be a quilter too.

You get Paul’s point. Surround yourself with other Christians who are as committed to spiritual growth as you are. Preferably find some believers who are older and more advanced in spiritual maturity than you are and observe their lives, learn from them, emulate them.

“Now wait,” you might say, “Jesus is our model, not other people.” And you would be right – to a point. Jesus is our Lord and He is the One we are to model our own conduct after. That’s why it’s so important to study your Bible – especially the four Gospels.

But the fact is that Jesus isn’t here with us in flesh and bones. He’s here in Spirit but you can’t see Him, you can’t hear Him, and you can’t watch Him walking through the situations of daily life. Instead, He has surrounded us with godly men and women within whom His Spirit lives – people who He lives in and works through. We can see Jesus in them.

In the larger passage, as part of his teaching about the joy of growing in spiritual maturity, Paul cautions us to choose our friends carefully. He says we need to surround ourselves with people who are going to have a good godly influence on us. In fact, he concludes this thought in verse 20 by reminding us that we are citizens of heaven, members of the family of God, and therefore we need to live like it. Good Christian friends help us to do that.

Paul is telling us here to carefully observe the people around us, identify those who are living the Christian life well, learn from them, and then do likewise. But not only are we to observe, learn from, and emulate those who are doing it right, but we are also to identify those who are bad examples and we must be sure we don’t follow them. Paul writes about that in verse 18. We learn from good examples and from bad, and we will think more about that tomorrow

I’m so grateful for the good, godly friends God has placed in my life who are good examples for me. How about you? Are there special people in your life that consistently set a good example for you and who could perhaps use a word of encouragement from you today? I urge you to send that person a note – perhaps a text, email, or phone call, and thank them for their good example.

Friends who set a good example help us to be better too.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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