Peer Pressure

My [child], if sinners entice you,Do not consent.If they say, “Come with us,” . . .Keep your foot from their path.

Proverbs 1:10-11, 15 (NKJV)

This is a warning. Be on guard. Don’t be influenced or pressured into doing something you know is wrong. Sin has a powerful lure all by itself, but when others try to pull us in, it can become even more powerful. Does this happen? All the time. Sometimes sin comes in the back door through friends—the wrong kind of friends.

I’m going to list some of the ways that we sometimes yield when we have friends who influence us to do things that aren’t the best. Do you have a friend who shops till she drops? When you’re together you, too, shop too much. You spend too much money, and you buy things you don’t need.

Complaining. Do you have a friend you complain with every time you are together? Both of you feel free to complain about your husbands, relatives, friends, people at church.

Do you have friends who compromise? Do they entice you to compromise by recommending R movies or trashy books? Do they invite you to join them for a drink at the bar? Or—warning!—do you have anyone in your life who is flirting with you, stirring you up to unhealthy desires?

Dear sisters, two things: (1) Pay attention to the red flags of danger. Do not have a friend who entices you to sin. And (2) be careful about the type of friend you are. A godly friend is a good friend

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

What’s wrong with ungodly friends? Didn’t Jesus intentionally spend time with sinners? Yes, he did. But his intentions were entirely different than just letting his hair down and fitting in. He brought light and truth into every atmosphere. He loved sinners and they knew it. He was grieved by the emptiness and pain he saw on their faces. Darkness did not drag him down; instead, he used light to lift them up.

Let’s Pray

Lord, seal my heart against compromise so I can be a vessel of your light in a lost and dying world.

One Year Bible Reading

Genesis 5:1–7:24; Matthew 3:7–4:11; Psalm 3:1-8; Proverbs 1:10-19