Day 30 - Set Boundaries

Today's Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:14-26

Today's Devotional: The right people will build you up and lead you towards Christ, but if you are around the wrong people they can be very toxic.  They can hurt your soul.  They can hurt your relationships.  They can lead you into temptation.  They can drag you down.  They can very easily take you away from God's best.

Response by: Brad Krebs

Tha author Craig spends a good time discussing the importance of surrounding yourself with Godly influences. He identifies the three common toxic relationships: the negatives, the controllers, and the tempers. The question of the week is which is more prevalent in your life. This is difficult for me because as I look at the descriptions from the small group book, none of my close friends would match the descriptions fully. I enjoy the people I surround myself with.  They often challenge me to be a better person.

But if you look at each person in your life, including your own life, we can see that toxic relationship behaviors are prevalent in everyone.  I think that can make it harder. When someone is mostly positive, we instinctively dismiss some of the toxic behaviors that may drag us down. In Romans 12 (from last Monday) Paul argues that we must rid ourselves from things of this world. That being of the world is being out of God. Today's scripture reiterates this point. Those who live in sin, can't live in God.

Now I don't think that this means we need to rid ourselves of all friends. No one is perfect and no one can live without sin (also from Paul), but we can set up boundaries in our lives to help keep us from going down a negative path. Make the conscious decision not to participate in negative behaviors. Make the decision to separate yourself when people travel down the toxic path. Only you can make the decision to live in Christ and not in sin.

Something to talk about: In what ways have toxic relationships polluted your life and your relationship with God?