If you want to know who you really are, look around you. Take note of the people you spend the most time with, the ones to whom you are the closest. Jim Rohn said it like this: “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”
A Portuguese proverb says, “Tell me with whom you go, and I’ll tell you who you are.”
About 400 years before Christ, there lived a prophet named Ezra, who addressed the challenges the Jews faced when they returned from Babylon to their homeland. One of the keys to their success, Ezra said, was to detangle themselves from the pagans with whom they had lived for so many years.
Ezra said, “Now honor the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples around you and from your foreign wives” (Ezra 11:10).
Recovery Step: You are who you spend time with. So choose wisely.
Author: Mark Denison
Mark and Beth Denison, married for 36 years, launched There’s Still Hope as a national movement to call men and women into lives of sexual integrity. Their ministry offers 90-day recovery plans for addicts and one-on-one and group coaching for addicts and their spouses. TSH also produces resources for pastors and churches to confront the porn epidemic that is destroying so many lives.
Dr. Denison was a senior pastor for over 30 years, NBA chaplain, and board chairman at Houston Baptist University three times. With a Master’s Degree in Addiction Recovery, Mark is a certified PSAP and active member of the American Association of Christian Counselors.
Mark has written four books on recovery: Porn in the Pew, 365 Days to Sexual Integrity, A 90-Day Recovery Guide, and 40 Days to Porn-Free Living. His latest book, Jesus on the 12 Steps, will be released later this year.
