Friendships

Quite frequently I take a step back and take a deep look at my friendships.

Thankfully, the Lord has truly blessed me with some great friends. He's surrounded me with some wonderfully Christ-centered people that really help keep me grounded and won't hesitate to point out (with kindness) areas I need to grow and work on. Sadly, the friends I have the closest relationships with live the farthest away.

At any rate, I do my best to be kind, accepting, and as the Bible says, to love everyone. However, my struggle is how to deal with toxic people in my life. First Corinthians 15:33 says "Bad company corrupts good character", meaning you are who you hang with. This advice is usually taken to mean that we should avoid people of bad moral character. Okay, I get that. However, on the contrary, the Bible's greatest commandment is to love one another and He reminds us that we must reach out with God's love to everyone, as He does with us.

So does that mean I should exclude "toxic" people OR still include them in my life but at a distance? It just seems so contradictory to me. David kept Saul at a distance, right? Saul even tried to kill David multiple times. Is that the example I should be looking at on how to deal with toxic people? Not exclusion, but distance?

Thankfully, this is not an issue I'm dealing with currently and I feel like all the friends in my life currently are blessings. However, I'm sure I'll deal with toxic friends again in the future.

My conclusion: Keep those people at a distance. Pray for the Holy Spirit to fill me with self-control, kindness, forgiveness, and love so I can be a good role model for those who are lost.

And so, there's my two cents for the day. Or as David just jokingly said....deep thoughts by Kelly McKinney.