Choosing the Right Christian Friends
“Beloved do not imitate what is evil, but what is good The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.”
3 John 1:11
Your BFF snorts when she laughs, and twirls her hair when she gets nervous. After a while, you notice that you do the same things, sometimes even finishing each others sentences.
When people spend time with others, they subconsciously pick up on each others mannerisms and styles of speech. To prove this, next time you are with someone, start scratching your nose ever so casually. Then, after your friend has scratched their nose, start combing your hand through your hair. See how long it takes for your friend to start mimicking you.
In 3 John, John is writing to his dear friend Gaius, a fellow Christian. In John’s letter, he tells Gaius that he is doing well in his ministry, that people are spreading the news of his hospitality and love. John also tells Gaius that he has written to Diotrephes, a party leader in the church but that Diotrephes has been casting out fellow Christians out of the church. John warns Gaius that Diotrephes has been spreading false rumors about them. John states that Gaius should not stoop down to his level and spread rumors in return. John states that when he arrives back into Corinth he will confront Diotrephes about his sinful behaviors.
One point that John was trying to convey is, as Christians we should be careful with the company that we keep because people who do not have the same morals and values may bring us down. For example. If you are an anorexic, and your BFF is an anorexic that is not seeking recovery, we may get complacent and fall back into our old habits.
At that time I said to you, "‘You are too heavy a burden for me to carry alone. Trusting someone can be challenging, especially if you have been let down and hurt in the past. When this happens, we put up our guard and don’t let anyone close to us because if we don’t trust in others, we can’t get hurt again, right? Nope.
The Israelites were enslaved starting around 1000 BCE for 430 years. Since the Pharaoh was nervous that the numbers of Israelites were growing out of control, he began to enslave them. Moses was then instructed to lead the Israelites out Egypt to the Promise land.
Moses let them out of Egypt, crossing the Red Sea to run away from the soldiers allowing them. Then when they got to the other side, free from the rule of an Egyptian Pharaoh, the large group is Israelites start to gripe and moan. They complained to Moses stating that God just led them out of Egypt so they could get slaughtered by some other country’s army.
God was not pleased with all this ungratefulness and lack of trust. However, God wanted to give them a second chance to learn trust. God sent them out into the desert to run around in circles for 40 years. During this time, God sent down from the heavens manna, which tasted like a honey wafer, and quail. God told them only to eat the quail that had been gathering during the day, and if they didn’t, the food would have worms in it and begin to smell foul. God wanted to prove to his chosen people that he was dependable and that he had full control.
This about all the miracles that God had performed in your lifetime. God saved them, but they didn’t trust them, can the same thing be said about you?
