JUST BREAKING: BEWARE...

"Do not be tricked by false words: evil company does damage to good behaviour" (1 Corinthians 15:33, Bible in Basic English).

It is important for Christians to pay attention to the kind of relationships they keep and carefully choose their companions. Friends play major roles in who or what we become in life. Often times, you are who are because of the friends you keep. As the adage goes, show me your friend and I will tell you what sort of a person you are. That is why the Bible cautions us severally on the issue of friendship. For instance, the first few chapters in the book of Proverbs contain

several warnings to be mindful of the associations we keep.

Jonadab was a bad friend to Amnon the son of David. He taught him how to rape his own sister (2 Samuel 13:5). In the end, it led to the death of Amnon. One of the greatest undoing of Samson was the ungodly companions he had. It was such a bad company that one of them took Samson's wife and thought nothing of it (Judges 14:11, 20). The point is that your friends can only offer you what they have. No friend can give you what he does not have.

I try to relate well with everyone God brings my way. But my principle has always been that I can do without whatever or whoever will not get me closer to God or take me to heaven. Indeed, the truth is that you really don't need whatever or whoever will not increase God and His righteousness in you. Of course, you will always need to have some forms of relationship with people who have nothing to do with your walk with God and your journey to heaven. But my point is that these are relationships you can do away with without any negative eternal consequences. You must always be willing to take that step when it becomes needful.

Finally, the exhortation here implies that each of us should take heed to himself so that he is not deceived by the false teachers who tell us that it doesn't matter who you walk with. By their smooth and plausible arguments, they want you to ignore the biblical injunction that "friendship of the world is enmity with God" (James 4:4). But the Bible is emphatic that whoever chooses to be a friend of the world has already taken his stand as an enemy of God. God forbid that you become numbered in that group.