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The godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray. Proverbs‬ ‭12‬:‭26‬

In his book “When to Walk Away: Finding Freedom from Toxic People”, Gary Thomas talks about the power and danger of toxic relationships. Toxic people can destroy relationships and steal our freedom to be all we could be.

Toxic people can be found in the church and sometimes spread their toxicity ‘in the name of Jesus’ love’. Stories abound of people who stray from God because of toxic people who came into their lives and drew them away to a life totally foreign to what their upbringing taught them.

I have a friend who nearly lost his family because of his drinking. He was on the way to being an alcoholic when his wife walked out with his two daughters.

As we spent time talking about the situation he shared with me that he’d go into a bar with his friends with no intention of drinking, but once there, he was coerced by his friends to have ‘just one’, which unfortunately led to many.

Thankfully, he made the choices he needed to save his family. He chose to avoid the bar crowd and focus on more wholesome friendships. He and his wife are back together and are in the process of healing.

Am I saying we should only have ‘Christian friends’? Of course not! Jesus hung out with the socially outcast more than the ‘spiritually secure’. Yet, through the power of the Holy Spirit we need to be open to sharing our faith in a gentle way and get our strength from relationships that celebrate Jesus.

Influencers can be negative or positive. Choose to follow the positive, Christ centered influencers!