Remember the question…”If everyone jumped off a bridge would you do it too?”

As a teenager you would quickly answer…”NO!” to this question.  Unfortunately though, most people need to answer this question with a loud…”YES!” We are so driven by what others think and what others are doing.  We are influenced by others more than we care to admit or maybe even recognize.  The pressure of the crowd can cause people to do things they do not want to do.  The wrong crowd can cause you to lose yourself and your values in an instant.  We can’t allow the voice of the crowd to be louder than the voice of God.  When we allow others to control us we take God out of the control room of our life.

If we are going to pursue our purpose and not run from it, we have to make sure we are running with the right crowd.  You will become like those you spend the most time with.  Who you spend your time and your life with will determine many things about your future.  Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.  We can’t let the what the crowd is doing determine what we are doing.  We have to pay the “crowd cost” by giving up the pressure of peers.  We have to make sure we have the right people around us.  Sometimes that means we have to get rid of the crowd that is pulling us away from our destiny.

Jesus spent the most time with His inner circle, the disciples.  No doubt He spent time with the prostitutes, tax collectors, and thieves, but He did for one purpose…to minster to them.  Jesus was on a mission when He spent time with these types of people.  The disciples on the other hand, were His close friends that traveled with Him.  They were the ones He came back to and spent His life with.  They were the ones that Jesus poured His life into day after day.  We too, must make sure our inner circle of people are the right crowd to be with.  They need to be the ones that we choose very wisely and selectively.

1 Corinthians 15:33

Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

The scripture reminds us to not be mislead concerning the company we choose to be with.  There are those that will pull us down if we are not careful.  Bad company, the wrong crowd, corrupts our character.  When our character is corrupted our destiny becomes diminished.

On the flip-side of 1 Corinthians 15:33 it means that good company, the right crowd, enhances our character.  Our inner circle can make us or break us depending on which company they are in.  We wouldn’t choose a company that was corrupt to do business with, so why would we choose to do life with corrupt people? Make sure you have people around you that are lifting you up and encouraging you in your purpose and calling.  Those that are enhancing our character and building us up in our calling.