You eat fat greasy food and you become a fat greasy dude.
I think we all know the adage, “You are what you eat.” Whatever we put in our bodies we will somehow see the effects of in our bodies. This is true for what we eat and drink, but I believe it is true for the kind of company we keep as well.
I remember as a little boy there was a particular uncle whom I did not really like being around. He was mean-spirited and drank excessively. He tended to be sarcastic, harsh and unkind. His humor was often at the expense of others – he was a bit of a social bully.
However, what I disliked the most about visiting him was the effect he had on my father. I noticed than when my father was with him, my father often became more like him. My dad tended to drink more and became less kind and more sarcastic. Even as a young boy I remember wondering why my dad let my uncle influence him in this way.
When my dad kept the company of my uncle he became like him. My dad allowed himself to be influenced by my uncle in a negative way.
Have you ever experienced that? Have you been around people who tended to bring the worst out of you? How about the corollary – have you been around people who brought the best out in you?
I am motivated when I am in the company of men and women who are passionate, committed followers of Jesus, who are wholeheartedly pursuing God’s purposes for them and for others through them. They are laying their lives down for God’s Kingdom. Wow – they cause me to up my game. I want to become like them. They encourage me to be my best.
The people whose company we keep matters. Studies have indicated that a young person’s peer group has a very significant influence on who they become as adults. We can have friend groups that provide negative peer pressure, or positive peer pressure.
“Don not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’” 1 Corinthians 15:33
Paul didn’t pull any punches when he talked about the influence of our peers. Basically he is saying that we become the company we keep.
What kind of influence do your friends have on you? Do they encourage you to be your best? Or, do they somehow influence you to sink to the lowest common denominator? I would encourage you to surround yourself with friends who help you to be your best – who inspire you to set high standards for yourself.
Choose your friends well.
There is another aspect to this truth though. We can keep the company of many people in many different forums. We keep the company of people through TV, through movies, through music, through videos, through all sorts of media. I have realized that often I let the wrong company influence me through the television or the internet.
Have you ever sat through a particular TV show, while you were just “vegging”, and you watched something that was not calling out the best in you, but was actually dragging you down to a standard you were not happy with? I know I have.
In fact, if we are honest with ourselves, most of what we watch on TV would often fall into the “bad company” exhortation Paul gave us. I think it would behoove us to more closely scrutinize the media we expose ourselves to through the lens of “the company we keep”.
If bad company corrupts good character, then we would be wise to evaluate the company we keep on TV, and on the internet. Sure, we understand the ills of pornography. But, look at what is on TV every night in popular shows through the lens of 1 Corinthians 15:33 and we certainly become far more discerning in what we watch.
The company we keep matters. And the company we keep through media certainly influences us as well – for better or for worse.
Choose wisely. Let’s choose the company that encourages and empowers us to be our best.
Proverbs 22:24, 25
“Do not associate with a man given to anger; or go with a hot-tempered man, or you will learn his ways and find a snare for yourself.”
Proverbs 13:20
“He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.”
Psalm 1:1-3
“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.”
Proverbs 4:23
“Above all else guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”