Choosing Good Friends
Opening Questions:
– How can you tell what someone is really like?
– Should you be able to tell a Christian from a non-Christian, or are they the same?
– What areas do you look at in a person’s life to see if they are a Christian or not?
– What parts of your life are affected and influence by a relationship with God?
Have two jars ready, one with oil and the other with water colored like oil. These represent two people. One is a Christian who resists the bad influences and friends and the other is a person who allows then to affect his of her life.
At this point give a personal example of a time when you made a poor decision because of peer pressure your friends. The story can be told in the third person and after it is told revealed who it is about. Tell how you learned the importance of wise friendships though the whole process.
Have another jar of water blackened with ink or food coloring. This is to represent sin/bad influences. Pour the black water into both jars to show a person who allows themselves to be influenced by wrong friends, the oil will separate and not allow itself to be changed.
All around us we face temptations. One of the keys to making right decisions is to choose good friends. Friends that love God, friends that will help us do what is right, and friends that I can encourage as well. Proverbs 13:20 says “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”
Go home and make a list of people that you know. Make one for your class, one for church, and one of the people that you are closest to. Pray for wisdom and ask go down the list one at a time to see if they are people that you should make a point of spending time with or not.
One has only to look at your closest friends to know what you are really like inside. Light has no fellowship with darkness. If you are interested in following God and those that you spent time with are not, than I can guarantee that soon you will either have to (1.) choose new friends or (2.) walk away from your Christian faith. My prayer is that you will choose number the first.
Closing Question:
– What kind of activities do you engage in when you are with your friends (Music, movies, conversation, etc.)?
– Who do you know that encourages others to do what is right?
– What would your friends say if you invited them to Bible Study, Church, etc.?