{"id":23661,"date":"2020-01-06T23:55:31","date_gmt":"2020-01-06T22:55:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=23661"},"modified":"2020-01-06T23:55:31","modified_gmt":"2020-01-06T22:55:31","slug":"choosing-your-friends-carefully","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=23661","title":{"rendered":"Choosing your friends carefully"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Tope Banso<\/strong>
\n\u201cThe righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray\u201d (Proverbs 12:26 New King James Version).
\nOne path to failure and destruction in life is to be in wrong relationships. This includes marriage relationships and the friends you keep. As the saying goes, \u201cShow me who your friend are and I will tell you who you are.\u201d Perhaps, a truer statement is, \u201cShow me who your friends are, and I will tell you what you will become.\u201d Relationship is vital to greatness in life. Who you walk with influences what you become.
\nIn 2020 and beyond, whether you\u2019re a pastor, businessman, student or any other thing, avoid wrong relationships. If you want to succeed in the New Year, you must avoid or quit wrong relationships, including courtship, friendship and partnership. Many lives are going the downward spiral because of wrong relationships. Many destinies are trapped in marriages they shouldn\u2019t have gone into. May the LORD have mercy on such people.
\nNobody comes into your life and leave you the same. He either adds to you or removes from you, lifts you up or pulls you down, encourages you or discourages you, and so on. No matter the potential you have, a wrong company will only help you to amount to nothing. .
\nSomeone has rightly said that it is better to stand alone than to be in a wrong company. I agree completely. \u201cDo not be deceived: \u2018Evil company corrupts good habits\u2019\u201d (1 Corinthians 15:33 New King James Version). Proverbs 27:17 says, \u201cAs iron sharpens iron, a friend sharpens a friend\u201d (New Living Translation). How can you be sharpened by a friend who is blunt \u2013 dull? You\u2019ll soon become like him.
\nAccording to Ecclesiastes 10:10, \u201cIf the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen the edge, Then he must use more strength; but wisdom brings success\u201d (New King James Version). Wisdom dictates that if you\u2019re serious about being sharpened, you look for someone sharper than you, not a dull person. If you company with those who are not heading for a future similar to what you desire for yourself, they\u2019ll take you to where they\u2019re going.
\nA wise person chooses his friends carefully. \u201cThe righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray\u201d (Proverbs 12:26 New King James Version). Because relationship is vital to greatness in life, the righteous doesn\u2019t go into relationship with just anyone. God warned Judah not to join Israel in her idolatry, but to leave her to face the consequences of her rebellion (Hosea 4:15-19).
\nYour future is going to be determined, a great deal, by the type of people you are in relationship with. If your friends and associates are wrong, your life and future will be wrong, no matter what appears to the contrary now. Mike Mudorck says, \u201cLife is a collection of relationships.\u201d He is right.
\nThe Bible says, \u201cWhoever walks with the wise will become wise; whoever walks with fools will suffer harm\u201d (Proverbs 13:20 New Living Translation). Another version says, \u201cHe who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed\u201d (New King James Version). Your future can\u2019t be brighter than the quality of relationships you have. Those who are in wrong relationships in form of friends, advisers, mentors and role models will ruin their lives.
\nAmnon, David\u2019s oldest son, had an evil person, a crafty man, Jonadab, as his adviser. That led to his premature and violent death. Jonadab taught Amnon how to perfect his lust towards his half-sister, Tamar. He taught him how to rape Tamar. A God-fearing friend would have silenced Amnon, and killed his lust for his half-sister, but Jonadab was his counselor (2 Samuel 13:1-6).
\nAmnon raped Tamar but two years later, he reaped what he had sown. Absalom, Tamar\u2019s brother, plotted and killed him (verses 23-29). The family was no longer the same after the rape and the revenge by Absalom. Who is your friend? Who are your counselors? Quit wrong relationships and avoid going into wrong relationships in 2020.
\n2 Corinthians 6:14-16 warns, \u201cDon’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can goodness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the Devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols?\u201d (New Living Translation).
\nDinah would not have been defiled by Shechem if she had not gone to see the daughters of the land. It was her desire for relationship that put her in that trouble. Remember, Dinah\u2019s mother, Leah, was not loved by Dinah\u2019s father, Jacob. Probably this negatively affected her self-esteem and she looked outside for friendship, but in the wrong place (Genesis 29:31-33).
\nAs necessary as relationships are, it is better to stand alone, than to be in a wrong relationship. \u201cNow Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her and lay with her, and violated her\u201d (Genesis 34:1-2 New King James Version).
\nDon\u2019t open your life up to just anybody. You need only quality relationships. Prayerfully let God lead you into relationships that will impact positively on your destiny. Avoid going into relationships that will leave you empty. Many today are in that condition but are yet to realize it just like Israel didn\u2019t (Hosea 7:8-9).
\nCultivate right relationships in 2020 and beyond. Not everybody can be your friends, and that does not mean they\u2019re your enemies. You may be a pastor, student, housewife, businessman, but not every colleague can be your friend. Consider your destiny. Choose your relationships carefully. Be guided by the Word and the Spirit of God.
\nIf you\u2019re not born again, repent of your sins today and accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. Whoever comes to Him, He will by no means cast out.
\nPRAYER POINT: Father, I repent of every wrong relationship I am in and quit such today\/ Holy Spirit help me to choose my relationships wisely as from today.<\/strong>
\nThis is wisdom for living, and it\u2019s worth sharing. Please share.
\n(For over 250 in-depth and insightful messages by T.O. Banso, visit: www.cedarministry.org).
\n\u25aa Banso heads Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria
\ncedarministryintl@yahoo.com, cedarministryng@gmail.com
\nTel No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
\nWhatsApp No: +2349081295947<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Tope Banso \u201cThe righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray\u201d (Proverbs 12:26 New King James Version). One path to failure and destruction in life is to be in wrong relationships. This includes marriage relationships and the friends you keep. As the saying goes, \u201cShow me who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":23662,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5772],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-faith"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23661\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}