Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
When someone comes to know the saving grace of Jesus Christ,
a new life emerges, replacing the old one, and.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
All at once.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
This new believer experiences a joy and a hope that
wasn't there before.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
But here's the thing.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
If you don't surround yourself with people who encourage you
in your journey of faith, then the Bible says in
First Corinthians fifteen, verse thirty three, do not be deceived.
Evil company corrupts good habits. A believer who has walked
with God for a while can become discourage and lose
hope when they encounter people in their life who are
(00:42):
not living up to the faith they proclaim to have found.
If a person's relationship with Christ is not grounded in
who he is and what he has done, then that
person is more likely to be swayed by what other.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Believers do, what other people say.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
As Christians who are part of the body of Christ,
it's our job to secure our faith in God and
in His word. It's our duties to guard ourselves and
protect our faith by examining the relationships we have. Are
they helpful or are they hurtful? Are they supporting you
to go forward? Or are they pushing you backwards. Now,
(01:23):
what I want us to specifically look at are the
three types of toxic people to avoid when living out
our daily walk with Christ. The first person to avoid
is the discourager. We all know this person. This is
the person who has something negative to say about every situation.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
They are always looking at.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
The glasses half empty instead of looking at the positive
side of things. Imagine this scenario with me for a minute.
A brand new believer has an excitement for church and
being part of what God is doing. She attends every
single thing that the church has to offer. If the
doors are open, she's there. She sits down next to
(02:02):
someone that she knows is a Christian and is excited
to get to know her. However, this person immediately starts
going in on how long this sermon usually lasts and
how there just aren't enough compelling ministries in the church.
The new believer walks away with a stunned look, trying
to understand why someone wouldn't have the same joy and
(02:24):
hope that she is found. She tries a few more
times to give this person a chance, thinking that maybe
she just had a bad day, but every time she
walks away feeling the weight of negativity. Her new friend
always seems to find something wrong with everything in the church.
You need to remember don't be deceived. Evil company corrupts
(02:48):
good habits. The way others talk and look at life
can have a major impact on us. Rather than focusing
on the ones that discourage, look for people who motivate
you and spur you on, as Hebrews ten twenty four says,
and let us consider one another in order to stir
up love and good works.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
The Bible is telling us that we need.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
To have people that will encourage us in our walk
with the Lord and constantly uplift us, as opposed to discouragers.
The second person to avoid it is what I'd like
to call the distractor. These are people who distract you
from your calling and from accomplishing the work of the Lord.
People who don't have their sights set on the will
(03:32):
of God but on themselves. Their priorities focus on self
rather than service. If you spend large amounts of time
with these types of people, then you will lose sight
of the calling that God has planted within you.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
For example, a believer.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Who wants to pursue a closer walk with the Lord
spends time meditating on God's word. They spend time in
their prayer closet and surround themselves.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
With godly people.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
And when you do this, you will always have people
that will say comments like he's always at church or
that church is his life. Instead of pushing you to continue,
they try to convince you to go out or to
do something that doesn't focus on the Lord, but on
fleshly desires instead. While we should still have relationships with
people that are not saved because we can be the
(04:23):
light in a dark world, our closest friends should be
those who share similar desires about God's will and calling.
Look at the believers and Acts two. They were so
passionate about the Lord that they met together daily.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Verse forty two says.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and
to fellowship, and to sharing in meals including the Lord's Supper,
and to prayer. Meeting together and pursuing Christ was their desire.
At the end of the chapter, we see that God
was adding to their numbers daily when it came to
the amount of people who were being saved. The third
(05:02):
type of person to avoid is the person who is
the destroyer. It may not be a physical destruction they
are after, but it will be a destruction of your
peace and joy, even your faith. These are probably the
most important people to avoid because they can be disguised
in sheep's clothing, as Matthew seven point fifteen states, but
(05:24):
inwardly they are raven as wolves. These people even know
scripture sometimes.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Remember that when.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
The devil tempted Jesus and Matthew fod he used scripture
every time. So these people will often know the Word
and seem like Christians, but when you really listen to them,
they are far from God, our enemy. The devil wants
to destroy the peace and joy God has given us,
and he can even use others to do it. Consider
(05:52):
this scenario. A woman joins a ministry in her church
to try and reach the lost community. There are those
around her who don't agree with the ministry and look
for ways to convince others in the church, including this woman,
why the ministry is not needed.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
They speak well and have.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
A reputation of being people who have invested a lot
in the church, and they will most likely have been
members for a long time now. Even though they proclaim
Christianity with their mouths, their hearts proclaimed something else. These
types of people are out to destroy anything that brings
others peace and joy, and so you and I should
(06:30):
pray for desertment so we can identify these types of people,
pray for their deliverance, but still keep them at a
distance so that they don't have any effect over us.
It's so vital to your relationship with Christ to make
sure you are surrounded by people who encourage you, who
participate in doing the Lord's work and building up the
(06:52):
Body of Christ rather than tearing it down. It doesn't
matter if you're a new believer or have been a
believer for many years. The enemy will use anyone he
can to distract you from following the Lord. So be
cautious and guard your heart from these types of people.
Pray and ask God to put people in your life
(07:14):
to edify your walk with him.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Learn to let go. Holding on to something that God
is saying has come to an end is painful, and
that process of holding on.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Will hurt you.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
And if it doesn't hurt you, then it will plant seeds,
seeds of bitterness, seeds of resentment and unforgiveness. That's what
will begin to build up in your heart. That's how
Satan wants you to react. How could they do this
to me? After all I did for them? How could
they just treat me like that? You see, it's thinking
(07:58):
like that that will call you to become disheartened. You
induce yourself into a state of suffering, when instead you
just need to let them go respectfully, quietly, gracefully, let
them go. Don't waste time fighting about it, don't argue
about it. God brought them, He'll bring someone else. And
(08:24):
when you find yourself in a position where you need
the grace to accept that someone has served their purpose,
pray that the Lord will be your comfort as he
guides you into the next chapter. We don't always know
what's best for us. It can be hard to see
reality clearly when our emotions get in the way. That's
(08:48):
why we need to pray for the grace to be
of a clear mind. We will meet a lot of
people over our lifetime. Without a doubt, there will be
many that we will grow fond of, some that we
will be sad to.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Let go of.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Others not so much. But we have to trust that
God knows what he's doing.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
He knows what will help.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Us, he knows what will harm us. And in the
grand view of eternity, in the grand scheme of our
beginning and our end, He knows it all what is
needed to develop our character, who is needed to take
us to the next level, and also who should be
(09:35):
removed so that we can be free to elevate. We
don't always have control over the people who influence our lives.
We can't always beg them to stay or force them
to leave. But what we can control is our attitude.
The Bible says, as much as it depends on you,
(09:57):
live peaceably with all living Peasably means letting go of anger.
It means letting go of malice. It means letting go
of regrets.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
It means letting go.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Of what could have been and looking forward to what's ahead.
God has so many relationships in store for you that
you might not even know about.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Yet.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Don't miss out on the opportunities He's preparing for you
because you're too focused on preserving something that was never
going to last. And don't try to bury your emotions,
but bring them to God in prayer. He knows your hurt,
he knows your pain. Jesus himself was betrayed by the
(10:42):
ones he loved, He understands your reluctance, but he will
also give you the strength to do the hard things
you need to do. Pray for wisdom as well. It
can be hard to determine when to stay and when
to let go, but at some point it becomes clear
(11:04):
when it's not meant to be. If a relationship no
longer glorifies God but instead glorifies itself, it's time to
move on. It's time to look forward. So if God
removed them from your life, don't be afraid to let
(11:26):
them go.
When someone comes to know the saving grace of Jesus Christ,
a new life emerges, replacing the old one, and.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
All at once.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
This new believer experiences a joy and a hope that
wasn't there before.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
But here's the thing.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
If you don't surround yourself with people who encourage you
in your journey of faith, then the Bible says in
First Corinthians fifteen, verse thirty three, do not be deceived.
Evil company corrupts good habits. A believer who has walked
with God for a while can become discourage and lose
hope when they encounter people in their life who are
(00:42):
not living up to the faith they proclaim to have found.
If a person's relationship with Christ is not grounded in
who he is and what he has done, then that
person is more likely to be swayed by what other.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Believers do, what other people say.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
As Christians who are part of the body of Christ,
it's our job to secure our faith in God and
in His word. It's our duties to guard ourselves and
protect our faith by examining the relationships we have. Are
they helpful or are they hurtful? Are they supporting you
to go forward? Or are they pushing you backwards. Now,
(01:23):
what I want us to specifically look at are the
three types of toxic people to avoid when living out
our daily walk with Christ. The first person to avoid
is the discourager. We all know this person. This is
the person who has something negative to say about every situation.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
They are always looking at.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
The glasses half empty instead of looking at the positive
side of things. Imagine this scenario with me for a minute.
A brand new believer has an excitement for church and
being part of what God is doing. She attends every
single thing that the church has to offer. If the
doors are open, she's there. She sits down next to
(02:02):
someone that she knows is a Christian and is excited
to get to know her. However, this person immediately starts
going in on how long this sermon usually lasts and
how there just aren't enough compelling ministries in the church.
The new believer walks away with a stunned look, trying
to understand why someone wouldn't have the same joy and
(02:24):
hope that she is found. She tries a few more
times to give this person a chance, thinking that maybe
she just had a bad day, but every time she
walks away feeling the weight of negativity. Her new friend
always seems to find something wrong with everything in the church.
You need to remember don't be deceived. Evil company corrupts
(02:48):
good habits. The way others talk and look at life
can have a major impact on us. Rather than focusing
on the ones that discourage, look for people who motivate
you and spur you on, as Hebrews ten twenty four says,
and let us consider one another in order to stir
up love and good works.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
The Bible is telling us that we need.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
To have people that will encourage us in our walk
with the Lord and constantly uplift us, as opposed to discouragers.
The second person to avoid it is what I'd like
to call the distractor. These are people who distract you
from your calling and from accomplishing the work of the Lord.
People who don't have their sights set on the will
(03:32):
of God but on themselves. Their priorities focus on self
rather than service. If you spend large amounts of time
with these types of people, then you will lose sight
of the calling that God has planted within you.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
For example, a believer.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Who wants to pursue a closer walk with the Lord
spends time meditating on God's word. They spend time in
their prayer closet and surround themselves.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
With godly people.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
And when you do this, you will always have people
that will say comments like he's always at church or
that church is his life. Instead of pushing you to continue,
they try to convince you to go out or to
do something that doesn't focus on the Lord, but on
fleshly desires instead. While we should still have relationships with
people that are not saved because we can be the
(04:23):
light in a dark world, our closest friends should be
those who share similar desires about God's will and calling.
Look at the believers and Acts two. They were so
passionate about the Lord that they met together daily.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Verse forty two says.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and
to fellowship, and to sharing in meals including the Lord's Supper,
and to prayer. Meeting together and pursuing Christ was their desire.
At the end of the chapter, we see that God
was adding to their numbers daily when it came to
the amount of people who were being saved. The third
(05:02):
type of person to avoid is the person who is
the destroyer. It may not be a physical destruction they
are after, but it will be a destruction of your
peace and joy, even your faith. These are probably the
most important people to avoid because they can be disguised
in sheep's clothing, as Matthew seven point fifteen states, but
(05:24):
inwardly they are raven as wolves. These people even know
scripture sometimes.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Remember that when.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
The devil tempted Jesus and Matthew fod he used scripture
every time. So these people will often know the Word
and seem like Christians, but when you really listen to them,
they are far from God, our enemy. The devil wants
to destroy the peace and joy God has given us,
and he can even use others to do it. Consider
(05:52):
this scenario. A woman joins a ministry in her church
to try and reach the lost community. There are those
around her who don't agree with the ministry and look
for ways to convince others in the church, including this woman,
why the ministry is not needed.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
They speak well and have.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
A reputation of being people who have invested a lot
in the church, and they will most likely have been
members for a long time now. Even though they proclaim
Christianity with their mouths, their hearts proclaimed something else. These
types of people are out to destroy anything that brings
others peace and joy, and so you and I should
(06:30):
pray for desertment so we can identify these types of people,
pray for their deliverance, but still keep them at a
distance so that they don't have any effect over us.
It's so vital to your relationship with Christ to make
sure you are surrounded by people who encourage you, who
participate in doing the Lord's work and building up the
(06:52):
Body of Christ rather than tearing it down. It doesn't
matter if you're a new believer or have been a
believer for many years. The enemy will use anyone he
can to distract you from following the Lord. So be
cautious and guard your heart from these types of people.
Pray and ask God to put people in your life
(07:14):
to edify your walk with him.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Learn to let go. Holding on to something that God
is saying has come to an end is painful, and
that process of holding on.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Will hurt you.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
And if it doesn't hurt you, then it will plant seeds,
seeds of bitterness, seeds of resentment and unforgiveness. That's what
will begin to build up in your heart. That's how
Satan wants you to react. How could they do this
to me? After all I did for them? How could
they just treat me like that? You see, it's thinking
(07:58):
like that that will call you to become disheartened. You
induce yourself into a state of suffering, when instead you
just need to let them go respectfully, quietly, gracefully, let
them go. Don't waste time fighting about it, don't argue
about it. God brought them, He'll bring someone else. And
(08:24):
when you find yourself in a position where you need
the grace to accept that someone has served their purpose,
pray that the Lord will be your comfort as he
guides you into the next chapter. We don't always know
what's best for us. It can be hard to see
reality clearly when our emotions get in the way. That's
(08:48):
why we need to pray for the grace to be
of a clear mind. We will meet a lot of
people over our lifetime. Without a doubt, there will be
many that we will grow fond of, some that we
will be sad to.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Let go of.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Others not so much. But we have to trust that
God knows what he's doing.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
He knows what will help.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Us, he knows what will harm us. And in the
grand view of eternity, in the grand scheme of our
beginning and our end, He knows it all what is
needed to develop our character, who is needed to take
us to the next level, and also who should be
(09:35):
removed so that we can be free to elevate. We
don't always have control over the people who influence our lives.
We can't always beg them to stay or force them
to leave. But what we can control is our attitude.
The Bible says, as much as it depends on you,
(09:57):
live peaceably with all living Peasably means letting go of anger.
It means letting go of malice. It means letting go
of regrets.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
It means letting go.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Of what could have been and looking forward to what's ahead.
God has so many relationships in store for you that
you might not even know about.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Yet.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Don't miss out on the opportunities He's preparing for you
because you're too focused on preserving something that was never
going to last. And don't try to bury your emotions,
but bring them to God in prayer. He knows your hurt,
he knows your pain. Jesus himself was betrayed by the
(10:42):
ones he loved, He understands your reluctance, but he will
also give you the strength to do the hard things
you need to do. Pray for wisdom as well. It
can be hard to determine when to stay and when
to let go, but at some point it becomes clear
(11:04):
when it's not meant to be. If a relationship no
longer glorifies God but instead glorifies itself, it's time to
move on. It's time to look forward. So if God
removed them from your life, don't be afraid to let
(11:26):
them go.
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