1 Corinthians 15:33  Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.

When we look out the kitchen window we see the garden I wrote of yesterday.  The roses and iris are in full bloom and they are so beautiful.  The pink, red and yellow colors are vibrant and abundant.  One thing that really helps is that these plants are a lot taller than the weeds – at least now they are.

The smaller plants around them though are another matter.  That is where the war with the weeds is really taking place.  But this week I am going to enter the fray and get rid of the weeds.  In my love of the dramatic I think of the battle of Helm’s Deep in the Lord of the Rings.  The good guys (the flowers) are on the verge of being overwhelmed by the bad guys (the weeds) and at the crack of dawn Gandalf and reinforcements (me) arrive and the bad guys are defeated.

We wrote yesterday of our spiritual gardens that the flowers and weeds represent referencing the Parable of the Sower.  Jesus taught how the weeds could choke out the life of the good seed (flowers).  Today’s verse raises another serious threat that presents itself.  Using our illustration, it warns that the association with the ‘weeds’ will corrupt good ‘flowers’.

Who we are in Christ Jesus can become corrupted by those we associate with.  This speaks to those we enjoy being with or hang out with.  Unfortunately, we can be blind to this corruption taking place.  Consider today’s verse as it appears in the Amplified Bible:

Do not be so deceived and misled! Evil companionships (communion, associations) corrupt and deprave good manners and morals and character.

We must understand that a culture war is raging and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the “bull’s eye” for the enemy’s attacks.  The war is to eliminate or corrupt all those who claim to be Christians.  Sadly the evidence of the success of these attacks surrounds us.

When our love for God is what it should be, we resist accommodating the ways of the world – we embrace His ways.  We recognize right and wrong.  We reject the ‘weeds’ and keep them out of our lives. Our lives are not judgmental, but filled with love, grace and mercy.  We become those who come to the aid of others to help them rid their ‘gardens’ of ‘weeds’.