Proverbs 22:25

Or you will learn his ways And find a snare for yourself.

     One summer I lived with a family of six. It was a wonderful experience as I was able to truly get to know them. One of them had a habit that when something was funny, they would laugh and say, “That is so funny,” or something similar. Well, by the end of the summer, I was doing the exact same thing. I did not even realize I was doing it until I went back to college and someone noticed for me. I wondered where I had picked it up and remembered staying with this family.

      This is one of many instances in my life where I have learned and adapted behaviors from those who I have associated with. The more I am around them, the more they rub off on me. What is amazing about this is that it is not a conscious decision that we will start behaving like this. Just by our association with these people, I started changing the way that I behaved.

     The Proverb author here warns that this is why we should be careful who we associate with. If we spend time with the wrong people, we will start to be like them if we are not mindful of what we are doing. It may be that we are looking back at sinful behaviors, attitudes or thoughts and wondering where those even came from. While we should not completely avoid the world, we do need to be aware of the influence they can have over us. We need to make sure that God’s actions are the one’s that we imitate rather than the world’s.

Or you will learn his ways And find a snare for yourself.