Godly by Association?

There is an old English adage that says, "Still as of old, man by himself is priced. For 30 pieces Judas sold himself, not Christ." We think Judas sold Jesus, but it was in fact Judas who sold his own soul. How much is a soul worth? Judas figured that 30 pieces of silver ought to do it. And not only that, he betrayed Jesus with a kiss—a kiss from hell. Judas could have pointed Jesus out and said, "Okay, guys, that is Jesus. Take Him. Now give me my money." But no, Judas instead went up to Jesus and, in what looked like an act of affection and devotion, he kissed Jesus on the cheek. Judas wanted to appear to be spiritual.

There are people like that today. They are spiritually diseased on the inside but they want to appear godly on the outside. Judas is proof that association with godliness is no guarantee that you will be godly. Do you think that if you hang around godly people, it will make you godly? Not at all. They can be a good influence on you, and I highly recommend that you hang out with godly people. But I also recommend that you be a godly person who influences others. However, these things alone will not change your character in and of itself.

It would be like going out to a restaurant with friends, and while they order off the menu, you say, "Oh, I am not going to order anything. I will just look at the pictures in this menu. That will meet my needs and fill my stomach." You cannot grow spiritually by simply hanging around with godly people. To grow wise and develop spiritually, you must personally take in what Jesus offers.