“He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”

READ: 2 Corinthians 6:14-18

¹⁴ Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

¹⁵ And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

¹⁶ And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

¹⁷ Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.

¹⁸ And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

 MESSAGE

It is not every friend that you should allow your children to get close to. (1 Corinthians 15:33) says:

Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

Many parents allow their children to befriend Jonadabs (2 Samuel 13:3-5), saying this is the age of freedom. What foolishness! Our memory verse today states clearly that we would become like the people we keep company with.

Do you want your child to be destroyed? An adage says. “Show me your friend and I will tell you who you are”. If your child has a close friend who is not a child of God, that child is already on his way to becoming a prey to the devil. Separate your children from such friends immediately.

I have a responsibility over my own children. As a young boy, when all my friends were playing outside, my mother would say to me, “Come in and study”. I would say to her, “But the other children are playing”. She would respond by saying, “Others are not my business; you are my business”. Today I thank God for my mother because she was very firm with me.

Psalm 1:1-3 tells us that those who want to be blessed must stay away from certain people. They must stay away from the ungodly, sinners and scorners. Tell your children that if they want to enjoy good success in life, they must choose their friends carefully. The only prerequisite for choosing a friend, according to Proverbs 13:20 is that the fellow must be wise. Remember that the beginning of wisdom is in the fear of God. If that friend is not a true child of God, your child should not befriend him or her.

Communication does not stop at friendship. The phone which almost every child has nowadays is a major tool of communication. The child must avoid evil communication on the phone too. Check the kind of movies and shows they watch on television. Don’t allow just anything because we are in a modern age; the word of God is ever relevant – if the communication is evil, it will corrupt their manners.

ACTION POINT:
Audit your children’s friends and the kind of content they have been consuming on their gadgets and devices.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Psalms 26-28

HYMNAL:
Hymn 7 – I love this family of God

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