You Are Who You Associate With

  
  One of the things that I first noticed when my husband and I were courting, were the types of people that he associated with.  A lot of the people were slightly older and they were married with families.  I thought it was unique for a single man to associate with a number of friends who were not only married, but believed in the institution and seriousness of marriage. Before I could ask, he offered the explanation that he knew that he wanted to be married and that it would do him justice to absorb the knowledge that these men had so that he could use it when he got married. And I must say that it has been beneficial, but usually how many think of it that way?
   
     Far too often, we find people socializing with certain types of people and wonder why they can't get ahead.  How many times have we seen a group of women sitting around bashing men and then wonder why Mr. No-Good-Afraid-To-Commit-Lying-Broke-Busted-And-Disgusted keeps showing up?  How many times have we witnessed the guys just sitting around talking about everything about a woman except her mental strength and value and wonder why they attract women who only want the green in their pockets? A lot of times, it is in the company that one keeps.  In I Corinthians 15:33, it speaks about how bad company corrupts good works.  Although I knew this concept for a little while now and have had very few positive marital examples myself, it really blessed me when I saw my husband use it to his advantage.  I have been positively touched by the number of people that I have met through him who have done nothing but praise the institution of marriage and offered sound advice from a perspective of 'We are in this for life'. They never have sugar coated the level of work that it takes, but have shown us that it has and can be done.  In a society that says that you can jump ship if he leaves the cap off the toothpaste, it is refreshing to know that there are people out there who believe what the bible says about marriage and I would much rather associate with those.