River Church NOLA
2026 Sep 6 Th Company You Keep
  • Beautiful One
  • This Is The Day
  • Build My Life
  • Because He lives/He is Lord

  • Making Right Choices

    Boudreaux and Thibodeaux were out on the bayou one Saturday morning, lines in the water, not a fish in sight. Boudreaux says, “Thibodeaux, you ever notice how the fellas we run with tend to rub off on us?”
    Thibodeaux thinks on it a minute and says, “Yeah — I used to run around with a fella who was always broke, always cussin’, always one phone call away from trouble. Then he moved off to Texas, and I started spendin’ my time with a deacon from my church instead.”
    Boudreaux says, “Well, look at that. So what changed?”
    Thibodeaux says, “I still ain’t got no money — but now I feel guilty about it.”
    That’s a joke, but Solomon wasn’t joking when he wrote it down three thousand years ago. Who you walk with rubs off on you. Every time. That’s not folk wisdom — that’s Scripture.
    Every day, we make choices. Some seem important, while others seem very small. We choose where to go, what to watch, how to spend our money, how to respond when we are angry, and whom we allow to influence us.
    Yet small choices often become habits, habits shape our character, and character helps determine the direction of our lives.
    Proverbs 13:20 teaches us that our choices—especially our choice of companions—have consequences. If we walk with wise people, their wisdom will influence us. If we continually associate with foolish people and follow their ways, their foolishness will eventually bring harm into our lives.

    Our Companions Influence Our Choices.

    Check this out.
    Proverbs 13:20 NLT
    20 Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.
    Let’s say that again together.

    “Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.”

    Solomon isn’t talking about the people you wave at in the church parking lot. The word translated “walk” pictures a habitual companion — someone whose road runs alongside yours, day in and day out. And “fool” in Proverbs never means unintelligent. It means someone who’s made up their mind to live without regard for God and won’t be told otherwise — thickheaded, self-assured, allergic to correction.
    So here’s the choice underneath the choice: it’s not “am I smart enough to avoid bad company.” It’s “whose road am I letting run next to mine.” Solomon says there are only two directions that habit will take you — toward wisdom, or toward being broken. There’s no third lane where you stay neutral.
    We become like the people whose company we keep. Their attitudes begin to affect our attitudes. Their priorities influence our priorities. Their language can become our language, and their choices can become our choices.
    If we spend time with people who love God, speak truth, work faithfully, and make responsible decisions, they can encourage us to do the same. But if our closest companions continually lie, gossip, misuse money, abuse substances, ignore responsibility, or reject godly correction, we may eventually begin to accept their behavior as normal.
    This does not mean that we should avoid everyone who makes mistakes. Jesus showed love to sinners, and Christians are called to reach people with compassion. But there is a difference between loving someone and allowing that person to direct our life. We should help people who are struggling without letting their foolish choices pull us away from God.

    Bad Choices bring Painful Consequences

    Proverbs 13:20 NLT
    20 … associate with fools and get in trouble.
    Rehoboam, King Solomon’s own son (1 Kings 12). The day he took the throne, the elders who’d served his father came to him with wise counsel: ease up on the people, serve them, and you’ll have their loyalty for life. Rehoboam set that counsel aside and turned instead to the young men he’d grown up with — his peers, his comfortable crowd. They told him to come in harder than his father ever had. He followed his friends instead of the wise, and the kingdom split in two that same week. Ten tribes walked away and never came back. One conversation, one choice of counsel, and a nation was never whole again.
    When Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme collapsed in 2008, he didn’t go down alone. People who had chosen to stay close inside that circle — some of them family, some of them longtime associates who kept lending their names and their trust to what he was doing — went down with him. Proximity to the fraud cost people everything they’d spent a lifetime building, even people who never wrote a fraudulent statement themselves. That’s Proverbs 13:20 playing out on the evening news: associate with fools, get in trouble — sometimes trouble you didn’t personally create but chose to stand close enough to inherit
    Consider a young person who begins spending time with friends who steal. At first, he may only watch. Later, he may help them hide what they have taken. Eventually, he may participate. One poor choice leads to another until he loses his reputation, his freedom, or his future.
    Consider someone who becomes close to people who constantly misuse alcohol or drugs. That person may first say, “I will be around them, but I will never do what they do.” Over time, however, the pressure to join them can become stronger. A decision made in a few careless moments may lead to addiction, damaged health, broken relationships, or even death.
    Bad financial choices also bring harm. A person may spend money to impress others, buy things that are unnecessary, or continually borrow without considering how the debt will be repaid. The pleasure may last for a moment, but the stress can remain for years.
    Bad choices may offer immediate pleasure, approval, or convenience, but they often produce lasting pain.

    Good Choices bring Good results.

    Good choices do not guarantee that life will always be easy. Wise and faithful people still face trouble. However, good choices place us on a healthier path and allow us to experience the fruit of wisdom.
    Joseph is an example of someone who made a good choice under great pressure. When Potiphar’s wife tempted him, Joseph refused. He understood that giving in would be a sin against God. His decision brought temporary suffering because he was falsely accused and imprisoned. In the end, however, God honored his faithfulness and placed him in a position of great responsibility.
    Daniel and his three friends (Daniel 1). Four teenagers, dragged off to Babylon, surrounded by a culture built to erase everything they believed. They could have scattered and each quietly gone along to get along. Instead they stuck together, made a shared decision not to defile themselves with the king’s food, and held each other to it. Scripture says God gave them knowledge and understanding beyond anyone else in the king’s court — “ten times better,” it says — and Daniel went on to serve faithfully under four different kings. That wasn’t just Daniel’s wisdom. That was four young men who chose to walk together toward God, and it shaped every one of them.
    Ruth (Ruth 1). A widow with every reason to go home to Moab, to her own people and her own comfort. Instead she looked at her mother-in-law Naomi — a woman who, whatever her grief, still walked with God — and said, “Your people will be my people, and your God my God.” That one choice of who to walk with put her in the fields of Boaz, in the lineage of King David, and in the family line of Jesus Christ. Ruth became wise because she chose to walk with someone wise, even when it cost her everything familiar
    Good choices also make a difference in ordinary life.
    Choosing to tell the truth builds trust. Choosing to save money brings greater stability. Choosing to study and work diligently creates opportunities. Choosing to forgive can bring healing. Choosing to care for our health can give us strength to serve our families and fulfill our responsibilities. Choosing godly friends gives us encouragement when we are tempted or discouraged.
    A good choice today may not produce an immediate reward, but it plants a seed. In time, that seed can produce good fruit.

    Hard Decisions are difficult to make, but easy to live out. Easy decisions are easy to make, but hard to live out.

    Solomon doesn’t leave us with a warning and nothing else. Here’s a simple way to walk this out, week to week.

    Steps We Can Take to Make Good Decisions

    Ask what God says

    Before making an important decision, we should ask, “Does this agree with God’s Word?”
    Our feelings can change. Popular opinion can change. God’s truth does not change. Scripture helps us recognize what is right, even when the wrong choice appears attractive.
    Psalm 119:105 NLT
    105 Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.
    We cannot expect God’s Word to guide us if we never read it. Regular Bible study prepares us to make wise decisions before temptation or trouble arrives.

    Watch who you walk with.

    Take an honest look at your five closest relationships. Are they, on the whole, pulling you toward God or away from Him? You don’t have to cut people off to be honest about the pull.
    Choose wise counselors. We need friends and advisers who will tell us the truth, not simply what we want to hear. Sometimes making a good choice means creating distance from a harmful relationship or limiting an unhealthy influence
    Who we walk with also includes: TV, Social Media, podcasts, online personalities. All of these influence our values and decisions.
    Before making a major decision, speak with a mature Christian, pastor, parent, teacher, or trusted friend whose life demonstrates wisdom. Ask, “What dangers do you see? Is there something I may be overlooking?”
    A wise counselor may help us see consequences that our emotions are hiding from us.

    Learn from mistakes & accept correction.

    All of us have made poor choices. Wisdom does not mean never making a mistake. Wisdom means admitting our mistakes, receiving correction, and changing direction.
    A fool makes excuses and blames others. A wise person says, “I was wrong. Please forgive me. With God’s help, I will choose differently.”
    Failure does not have to be the final chapter. God offers forgiveness through Jesus Christ and gives us grace to begin again.
    Proverbs 12:15 NLT
    15 Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others.
    The people worth walking with are the ones who’ll tell you the truth, not just what you want to hear — and you become the kind of person who can hear it.

    Seek wise counsel before you decide, not after.

    Proverbs 15:22 NLT
    22 Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many advisers bring success.
    Rehoboam had wise counsel available and chose the crowd instead. Don’t make the big decision — a relationship, a job, a move — in isolation from people who’ve walked further with God than you have.

    Don’t decide when emotions are high, Decide in advance where you stand.

    Anger, fear, loneliness, and excitement can cloud our judgment. When possible, wait until emotions have settled before making a major decision.
    A useful practice is to pause, pray, and seek counsel. We should be especially careful when someone pressures us by saying, “You must decide right now.” Wisdom is rarely afraid of careful examination.
    Daniel “purposed in his heart” that he would not defile himself. He made his decision before the greatest pressure arrived.

    We should decide in advance:

    I will tell the truth.

    I will not participate in dishonest activity.

    I will honor God with my body.

    I will not allow pressure from friends to control me.

    I will walk away when a situation becomes sinful or dangerous.

    Convictions established beforehand are stronger than intentions formed during temptation.

    Consider the consequences

    Before acting, ask:
    Where is this choice likely to lead?
    Who could be helped or harmed?
    Will I be glad I made this decision tomorrow?
    What might happen if this becomes a habit?
    Will this choice bring me closer to God or pull me away from Him?

    Foolishness focuses only on the present moment. Wisdom looks down the road.

    This isn’t a sermon about earning God’s favor by trying harder, or picking better friends. The last choice is the most important.

    The most important choice is how you respond to Jesus.

    The most important choice we can make is how we will respond to Jesus Christ.
    We have all sinned and made choices that separated us from God. We cannot repair that separation through good behavior alone. Jesus died for our sins and rose again so that we could be forgiven and receive eternal life.
    When we repent and trust Him, He gives us a new heart and places His Spirit within us. We are no longer left to face temptation in our own strength. Christ becomes our Savior, our Shepherd, and our source of wisdom.
    He came down into our lives, not after we cleaned up or changed friends, but He walked into our mess, took on what our foolish choices deserved, and made us right with God… finished on the cross. That’s Grace, not a reward for good judgement.
    Because you belong to Christ, you have the Holy Spirit, who will never lead you wrong. You have a church family meant to be the wise companion Solomon talked about… who will be with you no matter what… who will point you to Jesus.
    So, heres the question.

    Who is walking on the road with you?

    Not who are you being polite to… or who you occasionally see at work… but who you spend time with… week in and week out.
    This week. Take one honest step. Name the relationship that’s hsaping you and your values in the wrong direction that you need to distance yourself from. And name one wise person you need to walk closer to. Make that change.
    Prayer time.
    Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us wisdom through Your Word. Forgive us for the times we have made foolish choices and followed harmful influences. Help us choose our companions carefully and listen to people who will lead us closer to You. Give us wisdom to recognize what is right, courage to resist temptation, and humility to receive correction. Guide our words, relationships, habits, and decisions. Above all, help us follow Jesus faithfully and honor You with the choices we make. In Jesus’ name, amen

      • Proverbs 13:20NLT

      • Proverbs 13:20NLT

      • Psalm 119:105NLT

      • Proverbs 12:15NLT

      • Proverbs 15:22NLT

River Church NOLA
robert@riverchurchnola.com
504-578-8317
https://riverchurchnola.com
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