The other day I was having a conversation with one of my friends about how she didn't know what kind of group she wanted to "fit in" with. She liked this one group but they talked about others too much, and in the other group, she kind of liked them, but she knew they did things she didn't want to be a part of. She told me something along the lines of not wanting to hang out with this one person because she didn't want to have bad influences in her life; I commended her for seeing it, and simply said that you become what you surround yourself with.

At some point in life, we will all face this issue. There will be seemingly endless seasons of loneliness where, because we try so hard to find a place to fit it and feel safe, we lower our standards on what we know we need in our lives and surround ourselves with bad friends, habits, and activities that try to become the patches which would cover the holes in our heart.

But do they ever do their job; do they ever mend together our brokenness and loneliness, our hurt and pain?

The answer is no. They don't. As much as we try to fill our lives with anything and everything to make us happy, nothing will bring us contentment and joy like a relationship with Jesus Christ. You see, we spend so much time searching for what we need here on earth that we forget that none of it-- the popularity, the approval, the happiness-- will last forever.

What will last forever, however, is the eternal relationship we can have with Jesus. He will never once fail, forget, or forsake us. We are complete and good enough in Him. We are free from having to find contentment and happiness through things here in this life because we know in Heaven when we come face to face with our Jesus we will have everything we could ever want, and more. Don't surround yourself with the things of this world: surround yourself with Jesus, and let Him become your world.