Falling In Love With The Wrong People

If you thought I am going to talk about romantic relationships, I am sorry. Not today. Nonetheless, I invite you to continue reading –  your interest in that department might be addressed.  

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church and said, “When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people.” (1 Corinthians 5:9-11).

Paul clearly realized that the Corinthians had misunderstood him by making  the church an exclusive club. He had to correct them and highlight that we cannot avoid immoral people in this world. In other words we have to learn to live with them. In fact, we are only pilgrims in this world. This is not our home, our home is in heaven. We are merely ambassadors of the Kingdom of heaven here on earth.

What  Paul was concerned about was their association with the ‘so called’ believers – those who claim to be Christians yet they are consciously living in sin. He says, “Don’t even eat with such people.” In other words he was saying they should not have fellowship with such.

While we are to learn to live with non-believers, we are also warned against forging relationships with them. Later on Paul warns the very same church, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?”  (2 Corinthians 6:14).

The point is that we should not be associated with darkness. Remember, God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. The reality is that there must be a common denominator that will inform our association with other people. Now, the line of demarcation is very clear, there is no relationship between darkness and light. There is no relationship between God and Satan. Therefore there should no be any relationship between children of God and  children of the devil. Believers should not fellowship with non-believers.

The truth is that we will work with non-believers. We will meet non-believers at the mall. We will go to school with non-believers. But we should guard against falling in love with them. We should not create bonds with non-believers otherwise we will find ourselves in bondage and unable to enjoy the fellowship with our Father.

Fellowship is an act of love. Fellowship means there is a deep, intimate relationship. Fellowship means sharing. You share your resources, including time. You share out of a loving heart. Therefore, it matters who and what you give your love to. The Apostle John says, “Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” – (1 John 2:15).

When you give your love to the world or the things of the world, they will reciprocate that gesture and offer what they have. The world offers only a craving for physical pleasure (lust of the flesh), a craving for everything we see (lust of the eyes) and pride in our achievements and possessions. All these set you against God Himself and you are cut out of the joy of the presence of the Lord.