2 Peter 2:8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—

Well this may not be a popular post but God’s Word is His Word. I am reading in 2 Peter this week and I came upon this verse….and I was thinking WHY DID LOT STAY ???

Then I saw it in the verse just before the one above…

VERSE 7 says that God…. delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked.

He was God’s ….He was righteous !! but His surroundings were oppressing him….depressing him….to heavy for him to bear…What he was around to see and hear them do was the cause of his oppression.

Are we any different?

How long does it take for you to start cussing, gossiping, drinking when you are hanging around someone who does those things? (I’m not condemning just making an observation of human behavior) since the Word has already told us….

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

Now God doesn’t want us to be monks or anything…we are not suppose to isolate ourselves….

“BAD COMPANY” –simply put is someone who causes you to fall. We know who those people are ….we slip and fall when we are around them …even if our hearts desire is to be an example to them, its not a good mix if they are a stumbling block to us.

So what happens after a situation like that??

Don’t you feel tormented! Saying in your mind “ If only I were stronger….if only I had more faith? Lord, what went wrong?We become disturbed in our souls….like LOT.

God delivered LOT and Jesus came to deliver us.

verse9 ….the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations…

Bad company is a temptation….

We cant help them if they are pulling us down!!

Don’t get me wrong! I don’t like the term bad company….( my heart says love every one)… yet it is true I can remember before I was a Christian when I was a young teen and my mom would tell me someone was not a person I should hang with because we got into trouble….but the temptation was there – some where they were exciting to me. It is the same now. Some where this joining behavior is exciting to my flesh. That is the reality of the situation.

The Word also says this:

Romans 14:13
Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.

The judgment that I can pass is to know when certain people trigger a hindrance TO ME!

( Self-evaluation is much better than passing judgment on others…sometimes we just end up condemning others for OUR issues.)

AND guess what it goes the other way too…

You are not to be a stumbling block to others.

We all have our personal obstacles to overcome….

We need boundaries – like sheep!  –lol

Follow the Shepherd, stay in the fence and you will be ok!

BOTTOM LINE:

Don’t allow others to cause you to fall

and don’t trip up anyone else!

EITHER WAY …it is YOUR responsibility!

STARLA