Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts. —2 Timothy 2:22

Have you ever noticed that when you hang around certain people, you end up eating the wrong things? They always want to order the pizza or the hamburgers and French fries and onion rings. Then there are the people who eat very well, and when you are around them, you kind of adapt and make healthier choices too.

In the same way, there are some people who either will drag you down spiritually or make you want to do better spiritually. There are some people who either will dull your spiritual appetite or make you want to walk more closely with God. So here is the question: What kind of person are you in the way you affect someone else? And what about the people you hang around with? How do they affect you?

We want to think about the things we do and about the people we hang out with, because running the spiritual race is not just running to what is right; it is also running from what is wrong. Paul said, “Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts” (2 Timothy 2:22).

For example, there are a lot of things you could do with your weekend, but you make going to church a priority. That’s a really good decision. Think about the people you hang out with and the things you do. Do they speed you on your way spiritually, or do they slow you down? Do they build you up, or do they tear you down? Or, to put it simply, are those people or activities wings or weights? Are they wings that help you on your way? Or, are they weights that slow you down?