“He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will be destroyed.” Proverbs 13:20 NKJV
One of my favorite guilty pleasure movies to watch is Mean Girls. It’s a silly movie, but if you remember anything from high school, you know this movie holds much truth in it. The main group of girls is referred to as “The Plastics” by their classmates. They consider themselves the upper crust of the school and basically look down on everyone else. Cady, who’s new to the school, befriends a couple of unfortunate targets of The Plastics and works with them to infiltrate the mean group and destroy the group from within. The problem comes when Cady overthrows the leader and then assumes her role in the group, becoming very mean herself. Cady didn’t realize how her own character had been eroded over time due to her hanging out with the wrong crowd.
The Bible offers much wisdom on choosing our friends wisely. As the scripture above illustrates, we are very much shaped by the company we keep. If we surround ourselves with God-fearing, loving people, then we ourselves will exhibit those same characteristics. If we surround ourselves with “mean” people, then over time we will eventually become more and more like them. As the saying goes, “birds of a feather flock together.” We should always be mindful of who we hang around, and we should also be mindful of our own character as others hang around us. And just in case we’re unsure about what type of friend we should have or be, the Bible also tells us that “there’s a friend that sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24). Hang around Him for awhile, and avoid being “plastic.”