WHEN RELATIONSHIPS ARE LEADING US AWAY FROM GOD AND THE PURPOSE HE HAS FOR US:
hey my loves! Today’s post is about a topic that is soo soo important to me and something I recently just went through and still healing from (but Jesus has healed me!). Every experience we go through in life, God uses it for the glory of His kingdom. I know God is telling me to share this message because someone needs it. ♡
Are the people in your life/circle of friends helping to lead you towards God or are they helping to lead you away from Him?
MY EXPERIENCE
Last summer around when I was continuing to build my relationship with Jesus newly, I still had people/friends in my life prior to having that true relationship with God. I was starting to have discernment about the people who I was surrounding myself around, but I ignored it. Not too long after that, I woke up one morning and God spoke to me. I heard these exact words in my head, “Your friends, you need to cut them off.” At that moment I said out loud, “No, these are my true friends, they’ve always been there for me.” I basically ignored what God told me because at the time, I didn’t see a reason to stop interacting with them. Not even a month later God finally opened my eyes and started to reveal to me so many things. God was right about what He told me. God is always right. The situation kept getting worse because I was beginning to see why God didn’t want me to be in those relationships and I felt stuck, and was so overwhelmed. I was like, “Okay Lord, I understand these are not the people I need to have in my life anymore.” Long story short, the people in my circle were not leading me towards God, they were leading me away (like causing me to sin, temptations, etc.). God revealed to me they can not go where He’s taking me next. Since God is so important to me, with prayer and drawing near to Him, He helped to take them out of my life.
WHEN PEOPLE LEAD US AWAY FROM GOD; ADVICE USING SCRIPTURE
When people lead us away from God, it is not the best thing in the world. God knows the heart of man, He knows your friends more than you think you know your friends (read that again). God doesn’t want us to be around people and things that will take us away from Him. In Matthew 18:8 it says, “If your hand or foot causes you to fall away, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire.” This is the verse Jesus preached. If something is causing you to be lead astray from God and leading you towards sin, cut it off. Let it go. It is better to cut whatever it is off, than to stay and eventually be lead in a path away from God and His purpose for you, and towards destruction. No one is worth your salvation. I know it’s hard, but we have to remember God is not worth giving up for friends, a boyfriend or girlfriend, etc. At the end of the day, we are not going to be standing in front of these people or things, but we are going to be standing in front of God. Never be afraid to let go of people or things in your life you know aren’t leading you towards Christ and the purpose that He has for your life. Pray. God knows your struggles, so if you are struggling with this, do not be afraid, but pray to God and leave it in His hands. He cares about you, He wants to help you and He will.
When we surround ourselves around the wrong people, who are pursuing the world instead of pursuing God, they will corrupt us. Here are some more verses – In 1 Corinthians 15:33 it says, “Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” In 2 Corinthians 6:14 it says, “Don’t become partners with those who don’t believe. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?”
LETTING GO – MY EXPERIENCE
When people are leading you away from God and/or God is convicting you to let go (just like how He convicted me), it’s best to trust Him and let go. I understand letting go is hard, but when it’s for God it is so absolutely worth it!! It is so relieving and in the long run you are going to understand why. It’s harder to stay in that relationship because you will only keep hurting and it will hinder your relationship with the Lord. For me, I’m going to be honest, it took me awhile to let go of my old friendships. It was so hard because of how close we were and I had fears of being “lonely”, I didn’t want to be friend-less, and I didn’t want to disappoint or hurt anyone. But like I said before, if it’s for God, it’s worth it. At those times when I had those fears from the enemy and was afraid to let go, I had to run to God even if I felt like giving up (and I was new in my faith so it was hard). I had to pray and stay close to God and seek Him truly. While asking God for help, I had to put in effort by gradually distancing myself. And guess what happened.. God helped me! In Psalms 46:1 it says “God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble.” (love that verse by the way ♡). In James 4:8 it says “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you”. – if that isn’t true I don’t know what is. God gave me the boldness to let go completely and it was all by His grace. This trial helped me to draw near to God more than ever.
It’s important to have a close Godly community of people who you can talk about God with and won’t try to purposely cause you to stumble. You will both push each other towards Christ. In Proverbs 27:17 it says, “Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another.” We need iron sharpening iron. It’s best to be around people who will sharpen us towards Christ. They will encourage your God giving calling and purpose. Someone whose there through think and thin. No one is perfect and we all fall short from God’s glory (Romans 3:23 ♡) and that is why we need Jesus in our relationships so that we can help build one another and keep each other accountable. We need God in every aspect of our lives, including friendships. If you don’t have a community like this in your life yet, you can pray always about it! (I’m still praying about it!) Also, in no way am I saying don’t talk to certain people because they don’t believe or don’t have a relationship with God. Still be loving like how Jesus is, towards everyone, just be intentional about those who you let in your circle/daily life because they can influence you.
LOVE AT A DISTANCE
You can always love at a distance. Love because God loved first. I still love the people I was friends with, but they are not the right people to be in my life anymore because I’m running after Jesus and they weren’t going to enhance that, that is what God was revealing to me.
That’s the message I felt God wanted me to share today friends. I love you, keep picking up your cross. If you are struggling with this run to God and keep praying. It’s hard sometimes, but God will help to bring you out stronger. It’s important that our close relationships in life reflect Him. Anything or anyone He takes away from your life, He will always restore. Rest in knowing who He is. God is the best friend you can ever have.
If need someone to talk to, talk to God first, then you can talk to me. How can I pray for you? :))
Love Bea ♡
Spreading God's Love 