Many of us have "friends" from church,and we have Friends from wherever else. You have accepted God into your heart and you are so glad,Yet your Friends are Non-Christians who have yet to accept the LORD as our savior. You say hanging out with them is not hurting anything,Maybe you are not doing anything with those Non-christians friends that is going against God,But whenever you do hang with your Non-Believer friends you tend to grow further and further from God,you tend to act like the people you are around. And by being around un-godly people you tend to act un-godly. This is my opening to discussing friendships with Non-Christians and how it affects your walk with God.First off I know how hard it is to leave a friend that you have known for ever, For I have been through it all,I speak in personal experience,and quotes from the bible. You may not realize it but yours friends have a HUGe say in your life,but when you are hanging out with Non-believers/christians you tend to grow further from God,because your friends have yet accepted God into their life. Think of this as the game "LIFE" You draw cards say one said " You have accepted God into your life move further 7 spaces, Then your Non-believer/christian friend draws a card and it says jump back 5 spaces, Your friend has gone further away from God when you are getting closer,yet if we continue to let this person influence you then you are growing further away from God. You may find yourself drawing a card that says go back 12 spaces,there you are with you friend even further from God. Back to stage 1,the stage you just were at. We all think we can grow closer to God even when we have friends who don't believe,yes some of us are strong,but Not strong enough,like I said friends are big parts of our lives and being with a Non-believer makes you further from God.I had a friend,who was so far from God,I recently came close to God and felt great,I still continued to hang out with this friend,He called me names that hurt as is Jesus F*** and stuff like that it hurt and made me want to be friends with him. So there I was stuck between God and my so called friend,I did not realize it but I was already slipping from God.I prayed to God,he told me leave him,Do not be friends with somebody who influences you in a bad way.I did,I came closer to God. What I am saying is I tried to stay friends with him,it made me further from God,I quit being his friend,and I continued to prosper in my faith! I did not quit giving up on him though I still am trying today to believe!CORINTHIANS 6:14-15 "Don't team up with those who are unbelievers. How righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness. What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? how can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?Hmm sounds kind of harsh,God is basically saying HEY WHAT CAN PROSPER FROM A NON-GODLY RELATIONSHIP. Harsh maybe,but does this mean God wants us to completely seperate ourselves from the unbelievers? No God wants us to help them,But do not let their wickedness creep on you!!This is not long. I did not spend time in super depth. But I believe some needed to read this! Your brother in christ-Duke-
God,Christian-Non Christian Friends
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Depends what "stage" you are on your Christitian walk. If you just became Christian and are learning the truth,it's possible better stay away from non-believers company as much you can. Strenghten yourself with God's word first. But that's not always necessary. Just born again Christians can be the best testifiers for the lost. They got fire in them, again it's individual. Not everybody is same. I love to mix with the lost, sounds grrreeat !!! But I need fellowship with Christian friends absolutely. And need alone time with God also. But who else will reach the lost if we don't? We are the vessels that God uses. We can wait in our churches that lost souls turn up or we can go where they are, hobbies are good way build relationships with non believers or at work, again it's individual. Jesus ate with sinners. He was mocked by pharisees. We don't need to behave like non-believers, swear, get drunk, talk dirty,cheat etc. But we are the vessels and God wants to use everyone. if you don't want to mix with non-christians, pray for them. All is God's work anyway !!! All glory to Him.
Heres an alternative view.How in a salted cracker do we convert people to christ by staying away from them because they might influence us to go away from God.We can't So I agree with Thunder one. If your a new christian/ or your faith is weak. Yes stay away, Let your faith grow before taking on the world.But for us who are strong in our faith, we are called to spread the gospel. and how do we do this. By becoming a friend to non- christians and showing them christs love and message.
(Thunder1;36768)
We don't need to behave like non-believers, swear, get drunk, talk dirty,cheat etc.
Actually, some of us non-believers are quite nice and reasonably tolerable animals, and don't always exhibit these characteristics. Although, of course, there is always the risk of serious contamination if you mix with us too frequently. Perhaps we should walk around in public with a public health warning on our chests? (Horrors, imagine, my wife is a devout Christian and has to survive being married to a non-believer....is there any hope for her survival?)
We don't need to behave like non-believers, swear, get drunk, talk dirty,cheat etc.
Actually, some of us non-believers are quite nice and reasonably tolerable animals, and don't always exhibit these characteristics. Although, of course, there is always the risk of serious contamination if you mix with us too frequently. Perhaps we should walk around in public with a public health warning on our chests? (Horrors, imagine, my wife is a devout Christian and has to survive being married to a non-believer....is there any hope for her survival?)
Show them Christ and God's love. Show them what it is like to be one of Christ's people. If you show them the way, you may be able to get them to come before the Lord. For those who are blinded from God and Christ, dont leave them (unless it causes you to fall) but rather pray for them and keep trying. It would please God greatly if you were able to change them to the right. For an example: many would just throw the book at them and try and would fail. My Grandpa on the other hand would show them a little bit at a time about Christ's love and eventually they saw the light. Sometimes it takes time, but don't give up on them.
(kentots;36861)
Show them Christ and God's love. Show them what it is like to be one of Christ's people. If you show them the way, you may be able to get them to come before the Lord. For those who are blinded from God and Christ, dont leave them (unless it causes you to fall) but rather pray for them and keep trying. It would please God greatly if you were able to change them to the right. For an example: many would just throw the book at them and try and would fail. My Grandpa on the other hand would show them a little bit at a time about Christ's love and eventually they saw the light. Sometimes it takes time, but don't give up on them.
Good words, Kentots.I have a thought to throw in here concerning this. I was listening to an evangelist in our local church last night. He told how he wanted to believe and studied the bible rigorously daily. But for 10 years he never felt any true conviction, no response from God whatsoever. At the end of that dry period he was on the point of suicide from this failure. Without going into the details, it was right at this point that God entered his life and he has been preaching ever since.The thought that this raises is that you Christians should maybe also bear in mind that a non-believer's non-belief just might be a deliberate part of God's plan for that individual. This does not mean that you should not try, but it maybe does mean that you should not be disappointed by an apparent lack of success. Afterall, are you not rewarded according to your efforts rather than by your success rate? Is is not the bible message that where some sow, others reap?Don't be too eager for success and don't be too disappointed by (apparent) failure. If someone listened, then something happened. We atheists are a dumb lot when it comes to recognising God, it goes with the package
Show them Christ and God's love. Show them what it is like to be one of Christ's people. If you show them the way, you may be able to get them to come before the Lord. For those who are blinded from God and Christ, dont leave them (unless it causes you to fall) but rather pray for them and keep trying. It would please God greatly if you were able to change them to the right. For an example: many would just throw the book at them and try and would fail. My Grandpa on the other hand would show them a little bit at a time about Christ's love and eventually they saw the light. Sometimes it takes time, but don't give up on them.
Good words, Kentots.I have a thought to throw in here concerning this. I was listening to an evangelist in our local church last night. He told how he wanted to believe and studied the bible rigorously daily. But for 10 years he never felt any true conviction, no response from God whatsoever. At the end of that dry period he was on the point of suicide from this failure. Without going into the details, it was right at this point that God entered his life and he has been preaching ever since.The thought that this raises is that you Christians should maybe also bear in mind that a non-believer's non-belief just might be a deliberate part of God's plan for that individual. This does not mean that you should not try, but it maybe does mean that you should not be disappointed by an apparent lack of success. Afterall, are you not rewarded according to your efforts rather than by your success rate? Is is not the bible message that where some sow, others reap?Don't be too eager for success and don't be too disappointed by (apparent) failure. If someone listened, then something happened. We atheists are a dumb lot when it comes to recognising God, it goes with the package
Non-Christan's can be lovely people, good people. Some Non-Christan people do more to help people than Christan's do. Yes we would choose our friends very carefully, stay away from the bad influences.I was a non-believer for a long time, although not a bad person, I am glad God never gave up on me. I learnt the hard way, and I wish in my early life i had met more Christan people and the church, but that was Gods plan for me, and I have to accept it. My wife is a Non- believer but she is a lovely person. I am working on her gentle though.
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