Imagine with me for a moment that you’re on the side of a mountain climbing to reach the top. Your foothold gives way showering rubble under you. You look around trying to find a new hold so you can get a strong grip. You see an unsteady hold and you break it to see if there is another sturdy hold past it. Surprise! There is! You reposition so you are clamped onto the side of the mountain. A little more climbing and you’re at the top.
God wants you to challenge yourself and get to Him. God is the top of the mountain that you are trying to reach. It is hard to reach Him if you don’t have steady holds. Some holds might be family or friends. If you don’t have good friends then they might rub off on you like an unsteady hold and it will make it hard for you to reach the top. If you have good friends then they might rub off on you like a strong hold strengthening you as you aim for the top.
Every hold can help you or make it hard for you. For you to get to the top it takes strong holds or friends who know God and challenge you to know Him better too. You need to break off the rubble and find those good holds. In other words, you need to cut off the bad influences in your life and find the good influences such as a group of friends who know God and want other people to know Him as well.
A good hold pushes us to do well and not to get discouraged. Courage is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery. Sometimes you don’t see a good hold instantly but God will give you one sooner or later even if it means climbing back down a little and readjusting your course. He will give you the right hold. Jesus knew what holds are good and bad. We don’t know that but He tells us that if we seek wisdom, He will give it abundantly.
“Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’” (1 Corinthians 15:33)
“Bad company ruins good morals.” – this means that if you hang around bad people or friends who aren’t challenging you and encouraging you to grow in your faith, then you will be negatively influenced by their morals and it will be hard to keep your morals and good character.
“As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” (Proverbs 27:17)
“As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” = this means that if you choose friends with good morals and strong faith, it will strengthen your faith in God.
Who will you climb the mountain with?
Sharing Hope for the Next Generation,
Bryce
Well written, Bryce! Thank you for encouraging us to seek God and friendships with others who point us to Him. I will be sharing this with my kids today. I can’t wait to read your next post!
Thanks for reading! thank you for also sharing it! I can’t wait to POST my next blog so you can read it! I hope your kids will like it and share it with their friends! #spreadthehope
Bryce, you have the gift! Excellent indeed! #spreadthehope
thank you for the encouragement! I am grateful that I get to have this opportunity. I hope that it will grow and give people more encouragement to get closer to God!!! #sharethehope
A wonderful message, Bryce. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us today. 🙂
I’m glad I get to share God’s word! #sharethehope
Looking forward to sharing this with my youth! I LOVE how you connected climbing to growing in faith. makes me want to grab my climbing gear again!
I hope your youth enjoy it! almost all my posts will have something that most people can relate to. #sharethehope
Great blog post, Bryce! I’m sharing it. Keep writing.
Thanks so much for sharing it! I hope you enjoy the future posts! #sharethehope
As a teacher — I give you an A+ for your writing ability and as a Christian mom with teenagers — WOW! What great and godly advice! You are a good influence on your generation — I hope they are listening and watching!
Would you mind if I told my English teacher you recommended an A+? 🙂 We want there to be safe places for godly conversation in my generation. Hey that rhymes! 🙂 #sharethehope
Bryce, I love it! Also, I would love to feature you on one of my Friday StoryTime posts for the DanceWithJesus linkup. Go here to get the details! bit.ly/SBMGuestPost
Thank you for your kind words. I would be honored to pray about being featured on one of your Friday posts… #sharethehope
What a wise word, Bryce!
We do become a lot like those friends that we hang out with! Our friends have such a major impact on us, don’t they!
Great post!
And, I am an English teacher, and I think you should definitely get an A+!
I hope everyone who reads this are able to find good footholds. By the way, can you put that a+ into the grade book? 😉 #sharethehope
Like. Yes bad company can bea Joy stealer.
If we can find good friends with God it will be harder for the enemy to break in and steal joy. #sharethehope
Thank you for the great post! Really connected me to god!