Take a look around. Who is it that you see? Are you surrounded by people who will lift you up or drag you down? The company you keep is a reflective mirror on both who you are now and who you are yet to be.

“Check Your Circle” is the advice Pastor Rich Wilkerson Jr. gives us in this talk of the “7 Rules for Self Discovery” collection. He illustrates how A.W. Tozer’s 6th rule, the company you keep, is emphasized in the Bible, time and again. Relationships play a major part in soul discovery and the direction of our lives.

 Like oxen in a field, depending on who we’re yoked with can make the difference between going in a straight line or going in circles. When it comes to friendship, we can learn a few things from the example of the paralyzed man. His apparent good choice in friends led to his healing, forgiveness of sin, and soul restoration. They led him to Jesus, and because of their faith, he received both physical and spiritual restoration. Sometimes it takes the faithfulness of others to lead us to our fullest potential, and that’s the ultimate marker of the best relationship that any of us can have.