Your Inner Circle: Who are you yoked to?

"A man [woman] of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother." [Proverbs 18: 24]

"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers, for what do righteousness and unbelievers have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? [2 Corinthians 6:14]

In the comical movie Meet the Parents and its sequel, Meet the Fockers, one of the main characters (played by Robert Dinero) is constantly referring to the "inner circle" and threatening his son-in-law with the possibilities of not getting into his circle or later being kicked out of it. Dinero's character portrays this circle as being something valuable to him and something that was worth his son-in-law obtaining a lifetime membership into. Although his "inner circle" mostly consisted of his family members, an "inner circle" can be comprised of close friends as well.

What is an "inner circle"? An "inner circle" seems to refer to an intimate group of a chosen few people that an individual feels that they can completely trust and share most of their intimate secrets with. For some women, their mothers, sisters, and/or daughters are a part of their "inner circle"; for others, it consist of close friends that have proven to be tried and true. Whether you have chosen to include family and/or friends into your "inner circle", it is not as pertinent as the importance of the substance of this inner circle is.

What type of friends/family makes up your circle? Is your circle mostly make up of ladies that have yet to discover Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior or firm believers and doers of the Word? If your circle consist of Christian women, are they still on spiritual "milk" or have they graduated to "solids"? If you are a married Christian woman, are your circle members mostly single, or are they married too?

Do not misconstrue the point of my questioning; I am not suggesting that your inner circle should consist of only married women or only Christian women. But I am suggesting that there is great importance in surrounding yourself with and being "yoked" to the "right" type of women in your life. For many of us women, our inner circle is a group of people that have a large impact on our lives. When we are down or experiencing life's drama, it is usually the women in this circle that we turn to for advice and direction. Honestly, for some, this circle is the first place they turn, as opposed to seeking the Lord first. Understanding the huge impact that women's close friends/family have on their actions and thoughts, it seems highly important to make sure that the individuals you've chosen to yoke yourself to are those that are going to shape, mold, and direct the paths you take in life, in the same direction that God has willed for you.

Assuming that you are a woman IN Christ, who is in your "inner circle" is worthy of serious evaluation. You will need someone who "sticks closer than a brother" that will steer you to solutions for your life, BASED ON THE WORD OF GOD; not according to her feelings and opinions. So often our closest friends and family members will give us sincere and often logical advice to handle our life circumstances; but in all true sincerity, they are often not biblical solutions. As for me and my life, I need and desire direction that will keep me on the "right" path of life and prosperity, pursuing the purpose God has planned for me. I need a friend that can lay down "self" and point me to the Word!

I have a dear, Christian friend that is a part of my "inner circle". She is someone that I have shared EVERY detail of my life with and revealed the most deepest and darkest of my secrets. When my days or the seasons in my life are helter-skelter and I run to her as a sounding board and for direction, I know that when it is all said and done, she will ALWAYS point me to the Word. Not to say that there have not been times that she may have felt like giving me advice to handle things as if we were of "this world"; she has. BUT we will always discuss it like this, "Girl, if I were you I'd just.......Ha! Ha! Ha!, BUT what God would want you to do is..." Sometimes the injustice committed against me, hurts her heart for me so much that I know it burns her up inside to ultimately have to direct me to act according to the Word (as opposed to handling it in a "worldly", non-scriptural manner), but she DOES!

Who is in your "Fav 5"? Who are you yoked to within your inner circle?

Who is affecting your decisions and actions from day to day?

Ladies, it's time to take inventory! Seek the Lord and ask for wisdom concerning your inner circle. If you ask Him, he will surely help you to weed out the individuals who are not truly in your best interest, according to the direction HE HAS for you. He will also surely provide divine connections for you and link you up with woman that will support you, according to His Word and your God ordained destiny!


Mad Luv~Teri