Environmental Change
by Pastor Lemuel Niere
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside very weight,
and the sin which doth so easily beset us…"
Hebrews 12:1.
Have you considered that besides your own wrong thinking and the devil, your biggest potential enemy in life is the environment in which you live? For example, if you constantly live in the atmosphere of doubt and unbelief, it’s just a fact that you’ll have more difficult time maintaining a walk of strong faith. That doubt-filled environment will try to rub off on you!
It’s a fact that your environment tends to affect you and the way you think. If you used to smoke or if you used to have a drinking problem, it’s obviously not a smart idea for you to hang around smokers and drinkers—unless, that is, you want to be influenced to return to your old habits. Hanging around people who still do these things may lure you to pick up a cigarette or take a smoke or to allow yourself one more small drink. These hold true with any bad environment. That’s why it’s vital for you to understand that the environment surrounding you is very important.
In Hebrews 12:1 we are given advice to “lay aside the sin and the environment that so comfortably envelopes you…”
Sometimes in order to make necessary changes you must physically remove yourself from an unprofitable situation. If you’re not strong enough in your faith to stay there without being affected, you need to get up and get out of that unbelieving, negative environment—the one you’ve been comfortably living in for a long time.
If God’s admonition to lay aside every weight applies to you, then obey Him and make a break from that unhealthy environment! Perhaps old friends, old places, wrong believing, or procrastinating habits are trying to exert a bad influence on you and you’re not resisting that influence too well. For you, that environment is sin if it keeps you from fulfilling your potential in Jesus Christ.
Be honest as you consider such things. Ask yourself, Is this environment conducive to my walk in Jesus, or is it dragging me back down into the mire that I was delivered from?
Your friends and your job are not so important that you should let them destroy your spiritual life. If you cannot successfully handle the environment you’re in, get out of there. Then watch the Lord provide a better opportunity and better friends than you’ve ever had in your life!
Living the Christian life is serious business. Don’t let your environment fill you with doubt and knock you out of your spiritual journey! If you can’t handle your environment victoriously, initiate a plan of action to change it today.
“Lord, I want to stay in an environment that will keep my faith alive and strong. Help me recognize those relationships and places I should avoid to keep my faith from being negatively affected. As You show me places, people, and things I should avoid, give me the strength I need to do what is right—and give the wisdom I need to know how to avoid those places and people! I pray this in Jesus’ name!”
