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© 2004
Hello,
What is the importance of keeping good company?
- Wondering
Dear Wondering,
It is the company that we keep, that helps make us who we are. So choose company that will pull you up not down! You can tell the way a person is by the things that they do.
Some people think that they can be around bad stuff and not be toughed, because they are strong. This is not so! There is a story told of a young girl that got a beautiful, new dress. She just had to put it on. When her mom saw her, she asked her to change out of the dress and to go fill up the coal bucket from the coal shed.
She decided that if she were very careful she could get the coal bucket filled and not have to take off the dress. So that is what she did. She was very careful and didn’t brush against anything. She was so proud of herself that she went to tell her mother what she had accomplished. When she got into the light, she realized that there was a fine black dust all over her dress and the dress was ruined.
What is the moral? If you are going to be with people who have no morals and bad language, at first you will pity, then ignore, then embrace their ways.
Your brain is a crazy thing. You can study like mad for a test and you may be able to retain most of the subject at least for a short time. Expose yourself to something shocking or sleazy and it goes right into long-term memory. Once it is in there, you can’t get it out without repentance and the help of God. So, it is best to be very wary of what’s going in.
Another reason why you have to
be careful about what you think is because thoughts precede the action.
Whatever you do whether it is good or bad, you had to think about it
first. Do not allow bad thoughts to enter your mind, think of something
else instead, like a song or poem. If
you have bad companions and are surrounded with bad thoughts all the time,
what are the chances that your will remain untouched and your actions will
remain good? They are slim!
Whether you are talking about the company your keep, or the company your spouse or children keep, I would hope that all of you would seek out friends who have good standards and conduct their lives accordingly. When you have people like that around you, they can help you make good life choices and you will be happier for it.
Good life choices allow you to retain your freedom to make other choices. For example, if you choose to make your money by working instead of ripping of an all night mini-mart, at the very least, you can continue to feel free when a cop goes by. If you get caught, you lose your physical freedom while you are behind bars and a part of your future money due to fines. Afterwards, you are limited in the type of job you can pursue. You have lost the right to choose.
To wind this all up for you, good company equals good choices so you can retain your freedom of choice, not only for this life, but for the next!
Sincerely,