We are honored to share with you a guest post from Pastor Ed Young as he shares with us a good word about relationships and accountability. Ed Young is a pastor, author, and conference speaker noted for his creative communication style. As the founding and senior pastor of Fellowship Church, Ed has deep a passion for making the complex, simple as he speaks truth to people in ways they can understand and apply to their everyday lives. In addition to leading Fellowship for the past 25 years, Ed has written 15 books on church leadership and Christian living.

“What did THEY influence you to do that you would not have done if THEY hadn’t been around?”

Think about that question for a minute. Because the reality is, what we think, what we say, where we go, and what we do are often highly influenced by other people. From the time we are very young, they always have something to say, don’t they?

The question is, “Who are they?” In other words, who are the people in your life that you allow to have the most influence? Whose actions, thoughts, and words dictate and direct your own?

No matter who we are, they are powerful. They carry a lot of weight in our lives. So as you think about your life, ask yourself: “Am I listening to the right they, or am I allowing the wrong they to have sway in my life?”

For many people, the wrong people have all the sway. Too many people look to the wrong people and they end up going to the wrong places and doing the wrong things. God doesn’t want us to live that way! He wants us to experience the most out of life, and that happens when we have the right influences in our lives.

Who are the right they? How can we ensure we surround ourselves with the kinds of people who will help us get where God wants us to go rather than finding ourselves walking down a path in life we were never intended to go?

The Bible tells us, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17). The right they are tough enough to sharpen us in areas we need to be sharpened in. I’m not talking about mean here. I’m talking about being tough.

Life is hard. We need people who can walk through those tough times with us and emerge on the other side. We aren’t designed to walk through life alone. This isn’t a solo sport. God created us as relational beings. So when we surround ourselves with people who are tough and who will help mold and shape us according to God’s Word, we discover the kind of people who can help get us where we need to go in life.

I’ve heard people say that Christianity is just a crutch designed for the weak. That’s ridiculous! Jesus Christ was not some pale, frail, blue-eyed, decaf-sipping, skinny white boy. No, no, no. You have never met a man as tough as Jesus. Christianity happens to be reserved for those who are tough!

It takes very, very tough person to admit to our almighty and eternal God that they can’t do it alone, that they have messed up, and that they need a Savior. No, the Christian life is not for the weak. As we say in Texas, that dog won’t hunt!

So do you want to know who the right they are? It starts there. The right they are tough.

As you think about your life, are you surrounded by people who are tough? Do you have friends who have bowed the knee to Christ and who are willing to help you in those difficult times in your life? Don’t think you have to do life alone. Surround yourself with others who can stand with you in the fights you face, and who are willing to help sharpen you into the person God has created you to be.

The truth is that we all need reminded of the power and influence of the people in our lives. TOUGH is just one aspect of the right they. In my latest book, Fifty Shades of They, I unpack many other aspects, and I’d love for you to check it out! I pray this book helps you as you seek to do life with the right kind of people in order to experience all that God has in store for you!