Is Bad Company Corrupting Your Good Morals?

On the edge of consciousness this morning, the old but wise Bible verse "bad company corrupts good morals" popped into my mind. For some unknown reason, this just started stewing in my barely awake head. Bad company... corrupts..... good morals.

The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. You know, this verse has been preached so many times over, but its "moral of the story" typically pertains to keeping good friends. Although I'd never thought of it this way, but "company" could also mean the books you read, the TV you watch, and the music you listen to. Maybe God isn't just talking about physical company, but also mental company too.

Alright, raise your hand if you ever watched a movie where the femme fatale had an awesome hair do you just had to try out. Or the hero had a really neat computer set up that you needed to have. You were affected by these things, even though you wouldn't normally do them. You were encouraged to do it because you watched that movie or you read that book. 

Let's take this another step. I remember a few years ago when I was reading the Christy Miller Series. Despite the considerable age differences, I was convinced that my life was supposed to be like Christy's-- great boyfriend, rich aunt and uncle who would take me anywhere I wanted, being chased around by the cutest guy at school, lots of good Christian gal pals who loved me no matter what I did. It all seemed rather perfect. Unfortunately, books were breading discontent in my life, even though they were Christian and good morals-wise.

Those are some examples were media can affect you. But what about when media gets harmful?  What about when the song has racy innuendos? What about when that movie has a little too much cursing (sorry Die Hard fans...)? What about when the main character of that book has sex with her boyfriend? We may not want to admit it, but these things do affect us. I am speaking from first hand experience here. I really want to warn you about the dangers of bad company corrupting your good morals. 

Here are some questions for you:

• Have you ever had to deal with friends who could probably be considered "bad company"? Did you stay friends with them?
• Are there examples in your life of media corrupting your good morals, or friends who you have noticed being affected?
• How can we pray for you today?