"The Influence of the Company You Keep"

Scripture: "He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm." -Proverbs 13:20, NIV

As I thought about today's topic, I am reminded of how each and every one of us had a childhood. Within our respective childhoods, we learned various lessons such as paying attention to the teacher at school, do not be disrespectful to adults, hit someone if they hit you first, and other things. However, there's one lesson our parents drilled into our hands, which brings up today's message. They told us to be careful of the company you keep. Throughout my adult years, this same lesson has been applied to an even greater level. As men and women of God, two things will occur when you are a part of a given group: you are going to influence the group or the group is going to influence you. Within today's text, God uses Solomon to discuss the two outcomes of influence based on the company you keep.

Solomon begins this particular scripture by saying, "He who walks with the wise grows wise". One of the best things I ever done in my life was hang around older and elderly people. As I hung around these people, I learned and absorbed their wisdom about God, about life, about respecting my parents, about doing the best I can in school, about making something out of myself, and the list goes on and on. Even now, God has placed my wife and I amongst a circle of friends where they glean off of us and in turn, we glean off of them! If you want to be wise in your finances, hang around wise financial people! If you want to be wise in your spiritual walk, hang around wise spiritual people! If you want to be wise in your workplace dealings, hang around those who have the wisdom of working at your job for a number of years! I guarantee you if you hang around wise people, God will in turn your seed into a beautiful plant, flourishing with wisdom!

There's a flip side when it comes to the influence of the company you keep. Solomon pens here "but a companion of fools suffer harm". I heard the old cliché say, "If you hang around with dogs, you are bound to get fleas". Another cliché says, "If you play with fire, you bound to get burned". If we think about it for one second, we have known someone, whether it was a family member or friend, who had a child to get in trouble because they hung around the wrong crowd. Brothers and sisters, it's on you, and it's on me, not to place ourselves in a circle of people that will not grow you. People are going to do two things within your life: add to you or subtract from you! That's why it's imperative to check people out and see what they are working with, spirit wise (1 John 4:1). It's imperative to check people out and where they are emotionally, mentally, physically, and any other way because if you do not check people out and they turn to be "a companion of fools", you are going to suffer harm!

In closing, the company you keep is very important. They are going to influence you either in a positive sense (growing wise) or a negative sense (suffer harm). Today, God asks you, "Are you going to get wiser with your walk or are you going to get weaker with your walk?" The choice is yours!