During my first day of basic training in the Army, I was assigned a “Battle Buddy.” A “Battle Buddy,” as it was explained to me, was someone I would learn to trust and rely on. We would spend every waking moment together and we would always have each other’s back. My “Battle Buddy” and I worked very well together, but others were not so lucky. Sometimes only one soldier in the team would pull the weight and both soldiers would pay the price. Or in other cases, one soldier was constantly getting in trouble and pulling the other soldier into all of his messes. You may have experienced this when being assigned a group for a class project and someone in your group may not have pulled their own weight. It may not have caused the group to fail, but it made it harder on everyone else in the group who had to make up for it.
Sometimes only one soldier in the team would pull the weight and both soldiers would pay the price.
This is the same in our spiritual walk as well. God instructs us to be in mutually beneficial relationships where we are positively influencing each other. God uses iron as a symbol of what type of Christian He calls us to be. Iron is commonly used as a symbol of strength, steadfast determination, uncompromising firmness. Basically, God wants us to be around people that will strengthen us and not try to make us change our Christian ways and beliefs. We are called to build each other up and make each other better, not cause each other to stumble. In 1 Corinthians 15:33, God warns us about being associated with those who are immoral. He warns that those relationships will corrupt us and ruin our character. God wants us to be in healthy relationships with our godly friends and to limit the time that we have with others.
Are you participating in godly relationships? If so, are you pulling your weight?
Stay strong and carry on,
Carrington
