Friendship. What is it? It is something that every person on the planet can relate to. We all want to be liked and to have someone that we can call a friend. Friendship truly is an integral part of our lives. These are the people that we go to when we need to share what we are feeling inside. They are there for us when times are tough and they are there for us in life's victories. To truly be a friend, we have to look past ourselves and invest in someone else.

Our friendships often tell a lot about who we are and how we treat others. They're a window into what is important in our lives and more often than not, you could be fairly accurate in describing someone you have never met simply by meeting their friends.

In chapter 4 of the book of James, we are given a wonderful insight into friendship and how it can affect us. In verse 4 James states, "You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." That is an amazingly point blank statement. James says that friendship with the world is hatred toward God. Think right now of something that you hate. I hate pickles; I can go as far as saying that I passionately hate pickles. I am disgusted by them and want nothing to do with them. I don't even want to smell them. My hatred of pickles may be a pretty minor example, but the reality of hatred runs very deep. Now when I think of that emotion, the last thing I want to do is equate that with God. Yet when I choose (as James puts it) to be a friend of the world, ultimately I have chosen to separate myself from God. That is not mincing words; hatred is a very serious thing.

The world looks to be a very friendly place and one that warrants our friendship. Speaking from experience, I have bought into the friendliness of the world many times, but I always get to a point where I end up asking myself, "How did I get here?" You don't just wake up one day and find out you are best friends with the world. It happens over time. Look at what James says in chapter 1 verse 27, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this ...to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." The pollution that takes place in our lives is the end result of a hundred different choices. It's like a water filter-we pour water into the top and it is filtered into the bottom. We can then drink the water knowing that most of the contaminants have been removed.

We need to have a filter in place so that we are not polluted by our world and naively establishing a friendship with it. Without these God ordained filters, we will fail to see the warning signs and before we know it, we find ourselves in a place where we don't want to be. There are many ways that we can filter our world and these are just a few: start by reading your bible. There are many reasons that we have been given this book, and it truly is our life's owner's manual. Ask yourself this-how will you know the difference between worldly living and godly living if you have not read what those differences are. Start surrounding yourself with people that will be a good influence on your decision-making and people that truly care about you and your spiritual well being. As I stated earlier, your friends are a major indicator of who you are, and I know that I don't want to be a part of this world - I choose Christ!