* When it comes to relationships, Christians have to maintain distance from those who are not like-minded in Christ.
* Not that you can't be friends, but you should not have intimate friendships, partnerships, or marriages with those who are not of the same spirit.
* This isn’t just about believers and non-believers.
* It’s about Biblical thinkers.
* Backstory - The Israelites were back in Jerusalem and began to rebuild the Temple.
* Certain Samaritans lived there, who were secretly enemies of God.
* They offered to help.
* Vs 3 - “But Zerubbabel, Joshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.”
* Why didn’t they accept their help?
* Because they understood a powerful principle - Mixture Corrupts.
* Just one drop of poison in a gallon of water and the entire gallon is ruined.
* These people didn’t truly honor God w/their lives.
* Those who are not of like-mind will negatively affect you, and not the other way around.
* If you throw a white glove in the mud the glove gets muddy, the mud doesn't get glovey.
* Law of Exposure - what you expose yourself to dramatically shapes how you think, feel, and act.
* Our mind is receptive by nature and hence every exposure leaves its imprint on mind.
* Our mind then starts thinking about it, and gradually shapes our thinking, feeling and behavior accordingly.
* And we are not even aware of this subtle programming.
* Jim Rohn - “You are the average of the five people you are keeping company wth.”
* Exercise - take the next week, and ask yourself how you feel after hanging around certain people.
* Did they energize you or suck the life out of you?
* If they exhaust you, that’s not your inner circle.