The People Around Me Shape Me

03Learn · Reflection

Reflection

The people you spend your time with have a strong influence on your thoughts, your decisions, and the way you act. God wants to help you choose friendships and places that strengthen your heart and encourage you to grow in wisdom, respect, and good values.

Rehoboam was a young king who had important decisions to make for his people. When the time came to look for guidance, he first listened to the older men, who spoke with wisdom and prudence.

Afterward, though, he chose to follow only the advice of his friends his own age, who urged him to act with pride and harshness.

Rehoboam took the wrong road, and that decision brought division and a lot of trouble to the kingdom. The story teaches an important lesson: the people we listen to and spend our lives with have a strong influence on the way we think, speak, and act.

Sometimes we don't notice how much certain places, friendships, or conversations are shaping our heart, until we start changing on the inside.

God wants to teach us to walk alongside people who encourage us to grow in wisdom, peace, and good values. Friendships can push us toward good choices, or pull us away from the path God wants for us.

That is why it matters to learn to recognize which influences we are letting into our lives.