If you expect to make it last with God you better get friends that edify your faith instead of justify your faults. Royal Tailor Our relationship with God is intimately weaved in with our relationships with others.  Who we choose to spend time with and allow to be an influencing voice in our life will shape our relationship with God, whether we want it to or not.  Oh we'd love to be strong enough in character to be able to spend all of our time in circles where they help us justify our bad behaviors, etc but we stand strong in our faith.  But it just ain't so.  Eventually we allow their justifications to become truth in our lives.  And then we are deceived to who we have become. But if we purpose to spend time with people who will speak truth to us, regardless of its initial sting, because they love us and care about us then we are more likely to stand strong in our faith.  If we purpose to surround ourselves with people who won't let us off the hook on o...