Fit Bit (friends leading astray)
Dear Kimberly,
My New Years
resolution is, I will not gossip and complain.
Yet, as I sit around the break room table and I get sucked in. I feel horrible when I get into this
behavior, but I can’t seem to stop. How
do I stop gossiping and complaining?
Sincerely,
My friends are leading me astray
Dear Lead Astray,
Don’t sit around
the break room table. It is better to be
alone and be at peace with God then it is to be with friends who encourage you
to be in direct contradiction to His ways.
Go for a walk at break time, read a book, find new friends but do not
continue to do the same behavior and expect a different result. I am so glad that God is convicting you to
stay away from gossiping and complaining. Go with that!!
He is your constant friend.
You can try to
redirect the conversation at the break room table. Yet, often that type of behavior is very
difficult to change. Pray for your
friends and pray for the strength to do what you know God is calling you to do.
2 Thessalonians 3:6
“Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
ye withdraw yourselves from every brethren that walketh disorderly, and not after
the tradition which he received of us.
2 Thessalonians 3:13
“But ye brethren be not weary in well doing.”
Be fit and be blessed,
Kimberly
Great advice. Our culture is so "peer" oriented. I too feel the pull to be like others and my kids feel that pull even though they have little peer interaction. But if our friends are not encouraging us in Christ and His ways we should not allow them to pull at us. For the last month I have had to pull my youngest away from a friend who is very unkind to my daughter. Even at a young age my daughter's greatest concern in this situation was that she senses that she was starting to act the same way as her friend acts. Who we are around influences us so much. Yet when do we stay close to others to try to influence them for Christ. At church there is lots of emphasis put on relationships. That through relationships we'll help others know Christ. But through relationships we can also be pulled into not honoring Christ.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for the advice.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very encouraging Scripture, Kimberly. Often we believers are accused of being "snooty", "separate", etc. whe we choose to distance ourselves from behavior such as this person describes. J