They exert remarkable amounts of influence over us - positive and negative. Both consciously and unconsciously we adopt the values and ideas of those we with whom we choose to spend our time. Recently I was reading about the development of values in children. In early life parents are the most important factor in shaping self-image and confidence, but at about age 16 the peer group assumes the dominate role. This is the power of friendship in those formative years.
Friends are a powerful part of our lives.
In my message last week, we looked at the words of Jesus in John 3 and discovered that God invites us, because of His love, to a restored relationship with Himself. Our past disobedience, our failures, and our sins need not be a barrier that blocks our pursuit of God for He has reached across the gap and built a bridge from heaven to earth in the person of Jesus Christ. Those who believe in and receive the gift of Jesus Christ in faith are, according to the Scripture, born anew. They have a new identity as a child of God, but spiritual experience does not stop there. For many, sadly, it does.