Are We the Positive Influence our Friends are Looking For?

​“Israel, do not rejoice jubilantly as the nations do, for you have acted promiscuously, leaving your God. You have loved the wages of a prostitute on every grain-threshing floor.”

‭‭Hosea‬ ‭9:1‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/72/hos.9.1.HCSB

“Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭12:1-2‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/72/rom.12.1-2.HCSB

God is looking for people who will be different from the world. There will be people who are completely “weird” in the eyes of the world. Those who will follow God completely. There will be those who have a little sparkle of faith, joy, or love that will cause the world to wonder what is different in them. And then there will be everyone else in between.

Where do you fit? 

We are to be in the world but we don’t have to be of the world. In other words. We are here to walk in this earth rubbing shoulders with the world but we are to act like Jesus. 

“When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they asked His disciples, “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners? ” When Jesus heard this, He told them, “Those who are well don’t need a doctor, but the sick do need one. I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭2:16-17‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/72/mrk.2.16-17.HCSB

Jesus was a friend to those sinners and tax collectors, but he did not get pulled into their influence. 

Are we the positive influence our circle of friends is looking for? Or are we being influenced by them and letting our guard down?

“Your speech should always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭4:6‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/72/col.4.6.HCSB

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on by men. “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5:13-14‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/72/mat.5.13-14.HCSB