It was 1969. I wasn't a Christian, and it was my first week as a freshman at Utah State University where I didn’t know a soul.
When an older Mormon girl in my dorm invited me to take an overnight trip to the state capital to tour the Mormon temple with a couple of other freshmen girls, I thought it sounded fun.*
It wasn’t.
That night our hotel room was filled with guys and gals I’d never met, and I ended up sleeping under a desk with my face to the wall in a room filled with pungent marijuana smoke and immoral sexual activity.
I wasn’t a believer, but my mamma was, and she’d shared enough wisdom with me to keep me from getting involved in those weekend activities.
Sadly, the other freshmen girls who'd come with me learned some new ways to sin and break the law.
I didn’t realize it at the time but I was getting a true-life illustration of 1 Corinthians 15:33: “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’” This older student was not good company for any of us.
God wants us around unbelievers so we can share the gospel, but our close friends should be like-minded believers. This is also why Christians should not date non-Christians.
God placed us in our family, and we need to learn how to deal kindly with ungodly members. But when it comes to friendships, we must choose those friends who keep us on track with the Lord (Proverbs 13:20).
Are your friends encouraging you to draw closer to the Lord or closer to the world?
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* I didn't know much about Mormonism at the time, but I thought it was a moral religion and since this older girl was deeply involved in her church, I never suspected our trip would involve drugs and sex.
For more encouragement about Christian friendships, see:
The Blessings of a "Peer Mentor"
How Social Media Has Changed Friendships
Should Christians Have Unbelieving Friends? (a short Bible study)
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