Friendship is the kind of careful consideration towards a particular person or people. This is often identified with close association with a varied range of intimacy, for example two best friends; you may find them inseparable and most of the time would gear towards the same goal in life if not getting the same degree in college.
This entry of mine has something in connection to this Sunday’s Youth service.
The preaching is about this coming generation, and as an example we were given this passage in the Bible; Judges 2:6 (Amplified Bible)
6And when Joshua had let the people go, the Israelites went every man to his inheritance to possess the land.
7And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He did for Israel.
8And Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old.
9And they buried him within the boundary of his inheritance in Timnath-heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
10And also all that generation were gathered to their fathers, and there arose another generation after them who did not know (recognize, understand) the Lord, or even the work which He had done for Israel.
11And the people of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals.
12And they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, Who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods of the peoples round about them and bowed down to them, and provoked the Lord to anger.
So where am I heading about this?
There are two types of friendships;
The one that you fellowship with, and
One that you deal with;
The type of friend that you fellowship with should be someone who stimulates your spiritual conviction; “as iron sharpens iron.” These friends are usually found in your local church, they are the ones who prays for you in their devotion times, they may support you emotionally but when they see that you’re headed to the wrong direction, they’re not afraid of correcting you with love (Proverbs 27:5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.)
The types of friend that you deal with are those who you choose to hang around with when you’re out of the church, these are the kind of friends that may have different cultures than you have, being a Christian and whatever they have may rub off on you. 1 Corinthians 15:33 Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.”
If you’re a Christian, and you go out in the world, you will find people full of broken dreams and heartaches, worst is when you find one with bitterness in their hearts, as a parent, I need to be careful in reminding my children to always choose the kind of people they associate with because whatever these people may have may rub off on them and as impressionable youths are, this may also root their ruin. Sometimes, it’s easy to get tangled in things that convinces us. Nowadays, children are confused; girls look at the mirror and tell themselves that they’re a female with a heart of a man, and so goes the same with boys. Men dressing up as women and having unnatural relationships with fellow males. Even if their reflection tells them the truth about themselves, they are still confused.
I don’t want to raise confused children. This is why children are given parents, and parents are being taught the word of God.
At least, while I’m still alive, I want to let my children know about the Lord than live this life and die, and my children end up worshipping other gods.
