What is a fool?
-A fool is someone who knew there’s a God but live a life as if God doesn’t exist.
What is a wise person?
-The wise person is someone who knows that God exists, take this fact seriously and reverently, and seek to please Him with his/her life.
Applying wisdom to Friendship
-Friends are very important and they have a very powerful influence on us. One of the staples of wise Christians is how they choose their friends.
-How do we exercise wisdom when we are discerning whom we are going to be friends with?
Two principles
1. Befriend the wise
2. Avoid the fools
-Solomon told us in Proverbs 13:20
“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,
but the companion of fools will suffer harm.”
-In other words,
“Whoever walks with those who knows God exists, take this fact seriously and reverently becomes wise,
-But the companion of those who lives as if God does not exist will suffer harm.”
-Repeatedly the Bible warns us against spending time with the wrong kind of people.
-Solomon gave us more insights in Proverbs 22:24-25
“Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.”
-Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:33b reminded us: “Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
-Paul in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 reminded us to avoid people who are “Lovers of self, lovers of money, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.”
-2 Timothy 3:10-15 reminded us that Paul wrote his final letter to encourage his good friend Timothy to continue in faithfulness and to follow his example to live wisely.
-Paul and Timothy were both wise Christians. They both know that God exists and they both lived their lives as if God exists. They use wisdom and in each other, they found a wise friend and their lives were both transformed because of that.
-Surrounding yourself with wise friends is never just about you. Choosing your friends wisely is not just for your own benefit. It is for the glory and the expansion of God’s kingdom.
