Friend involved with bad habits. Hangout or not?

I'll give you an example. My friend, who recently accepted christ as his personal saviour after conversing with me regarding deep scientific questions. He is your typical secular young man, punctuate his sentence with f bombs, looking at women inappropriately. I had to tell him straight out that I do not enjoy the conversation if its full of f bombs, and I do not enjoy demeaning women in that way. but I continue to be a friend, teaching him something about Christ, about what it says in the bible, in time, he actually changed and started to dislike f bombs, and started to understand that women are special, deserving respect and honour. Its only Jesus and Holy spirit that can convict him.

So all I can suggest, be a friend, tell him in gentle way that You don't enjoy that kind of behaviour. and pray for him. Its all up to the Holy spirit to convict him and change him. be a friend. but don't let him pull you into his habits and world.

Paul

Lightsped said:

I have a friend whom I have known for several years. He is involved with several bad habits (I understand we all have bad habits and are not perfect). The things my friend does absolutely causes no temptation for me to join him or try those things he chooses to do. I think my main problem is that I know of these things he does, and it kind of creeps me out. I am somewhat uncomfortable around him for this reason.

Now here is the question, should I continue to hangout with this person even though his bad habits creep me out, or should I maintain a safe distance with him. I am not trying to judge or preach to him.

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as everyone has bad habits, it depends on the degree

a little angry issue here and there is ok

but he has to know his boundaries, because no one should hang around someone with no boundaries

To me, the questions seem to be what the effect would be on both you and your other friends. Would it make it more likely that you’d do something wrong, and would it seem to others than you are condoning what he does?

From your most recent posting, it sounds like you have a group of friends who share your values, and that have had a relationship with your friend. Have you talked with them about the situation? It seems to me that some kind of compromise might work, inviting him some of the time but not all of the time. If your friends do this as a group, or you at least talk to them, it won’t look like you don’t care what he does.

Of course if friendship with him is going to undermine your own behavior, you'll have to be careful to limit it.

Sorry if I mentioned this before but you need to praying for this friend and also his mates to know Jesus. Let God do his work.

You are not the saviour. Jesus is.

How do we know? I think after praying and you ask God what to do He'll let you know if He still needs you to be in that situation or not. To stay or leave that person alone. You will have peace about it either way.

There will be somoeone else or God may step in somehow, its not just up to you. Try to detach. We can only sow seeds...and leave it to God to give the growth.

Are you as overt about your faith, about your commitment to Jesus as one of his disciples as your friend is about his sin? We tend to talk about what most preoccupies and/or gratifies us. Does Jesus preoccupy and gratify you? If he does, that's going to come out in your conversation. Does it? I have found that when I am "salt and light," when I don't hide the light of my love for Christ, those people who are my friends are either drawn to that light or repelled by it. In either case, I need do no more than be open and free about my love of my Saviour and Lord to elicit one of these two responses. Be, therefore, the salt and light Jesus has called you to be as one of his disciples. As you are, a natural "weeding-out" process will happen with your friend. He will either be drawn to the Saviour you love and talk about all the time, or he will be repelled. But he will be the one who does the leaving or staying.

If King Solomon could be induced by the wicked influence of his pagan wives to forsake the wisdom God had given him, anyone can be dragged down into sin by those who love darkness. This is why the Bible is so clear about your situation:

2 Corinthians 6:14-15
14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?
15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?

Ephesians 5:8-12
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth),
10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.
11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.

1 Corinthians 15:33
33 Do not be deceived: "Evil company corrupts good habits."

Selah.