Hiya ladies! Another gorgeous day ahead of us. It should not be as humid as yesterday so that will be nice. I like heat but not that humidity LOL.
Have you considered how the company we keep can influence how we treat and love our families?
There really is a lot that can be influenced by the people we surround ourselves with.
How many verses do we see that warns us not to spend time with certain people because we can take on those qualities ourselves?
Evaluating who we allow around us and what our friends character truly is should be the norm in our lives. We also should be evaluating what kind of person we are and the influence we have on others.
Having friends that encourages husband bashing is not good for us. So many of the things women complain about their husbands would make us quite upset if we heard them talking about us like that. Seeking advice is one thing. Putting husband down and speaking poorly of them is entirely another thing. Our husbands will annoy us, they have faults and quirks too. Guess who else does? We do. I am speaking of the normal everyday things we hear women complain about or bad attitudes we all get.
People who seem to want to gossip about others are not good to be around either. If someone so easily speaks poorly about or shares information that they should not be, so readily does that about others, perhaps it should be considered if you or your family are the object of this with others. What are WE talking about to others. This topic is important in so many ways.
The company we keep can influence how we treat our family. It is very important to pay attention to this. If we notice we tend to be mean, snotty, rude to or angry with our family after we hang around a certain person or people perhaps we should take note and consider if that should continue. Evaluating why that happens is helpful. Are they encouraging poor attitude towards our family by speaking poorly of them and getting us going? Do they make it seem like our families do not do enough and deserve us being crabby with them? Do they get you upset because maybe hubby does not take you on dates others get to go on? Do you get jealous of others and take it on on husband when others bring up things you can not afford to do and that causes negative feelings you otherwise did not have? Thinking on things like that is good to do from time to time.
Another area to consider is our children, their accomplishments and behavior. We can inadvertently even start to treat our kids differently because of bragging or comments from friends and others that happens. Discussions are one thing so pay attention to the types of things that get said and the how they are said. Even when children are acting up and making us crazy we should not treat them differently because we are upset others children behave better or accomplish more. We address what need to but be careful the motivation we may have and the way we go about it.
People that encourage bad attitudes, crabbiness and snottiness are not good to be around. Good relationships don’t encourage these things. They help each other through them. Sometimes venting probably will happen but what we do with that venting matters. True friends will keep us in check and steer it better to get through whatever it is. Not helping us stay in bad attitudes and encouraging worse.
One major thing that really stands out is a good friend will hold us accountable. They are willing to say, hey that is not ok. Perhaps you should look at such and such this way. No, actually, you are wrong and maybe with a “here is why”. These are friends who know us and do not just go along with everything we say and do. They do not always say something but when it matters, they will.
Good influencers do not just sit back and watch us destroy our family or ourself. They will call it out. Close friends would generally be willing to do this. A good friend sticks closer than a brother and they are willing to try to turn us back from sin/sinful attitudes.
Evaluate what kind of influence we are as well. It is not always everyone else who is the problem. Sometimes it is us. Those are ouch moments to see but they are good because we can grow from them.
Pray about these things.
Dive into Bible for behaviors to stay away from. Study who we should be around and who we should avoid.
As we do these things we can see where we can grow too. Even when we do well, there is always room for growth.
The quicker we are to say that’s not me, the more we should probably be changing.
These are good things to instill in our kids so that they can have easier lives as they grow too. Be the example for them too. It matters who we surround ourself with and how we conduct our lives.
Until next time