Rules for the RoadSample

Day 2: Don't Pick Up Strangers

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank you for the wise voices you’ve placed in my life. Show me what steps I should take to adjust the dials on the other voices in my life.

Reading:

Rule number two is: Don't pick up strangers.

Using our travel analogy, you could rephrase this rule by saying, “Be kind, but be careful who you allow in your vehicle.” Yes, you should be patient, compassionate, and generous with others, but you should also be careful who you allow into your inner circle.  

Remember what the author of Proverbs said:

Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.

– Proverbs 13:20

You may never be a fool, but if you're too close to the people who aren't living life according to your values, then when something happens to them, it may happen to you as well.

Do you have any strangers you've allowed into your inner circle? Is there anyone you're doing life with who, if you're really honest, makes you less healthy? Is there anyone who causes you to doubt yourself? Anyone who seems to always be slowly chipping away at your values? Anyone who is dismissive of your values? Perhaps you find yourself almost intimidated to be yourself because of how they would respond. Have you found yourself becoming a different person when you're around that person? That person is a stranger, and you need to drop them off. God loves them. You can't handle them.

Maybe someday you will be able to handle a person like that. But that time is not now if your life is being drawn in a direction that creates tension on the inside of you, if you find yourself doing things you never intended to do, if you find yourself drifting from your values, if you find yourself being dishonest with another group of people, or if you find yourself living two different lives. 

There's perhaps nothing more difficult than ending what seems to be a friendship or a relationship. But consider this: You would not repeatedly loan your car to someone who repeatedly trashed it, right? So don't loan yourself to someone who repeatedly does that to you. Don’t pick up strangers.

Reflection:

Is there someone or a group of people you’ve allowed into your life who aren’t good for you? Will you choose to value your future self and limit these voices? What guardrails can you put in place to limit their influence on your life?