You think you can be around anyone and stay unaffected. You can't.

In this episode I'm walking through three friendships I had to let cost me something — the ones built around drugs and alcohol, the ones where I took relationship advice from people who weren't living anything close to a Christian marriage, and the ones that ran on gossip. Same pattern, three different faces: I was being shaped by what I stayed close to, whether I noticed it or not.

We're going to scripture for this one — 1 Corinthians 15:33, Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 6:14-17, Proverbs 13:20, 1 Corinthians 5:9-11, and James 4:4 — to make the case for why proximity to compromise isn't neutral, even when it's passive. And I'll show you where the line is between that and what Jesus actually modeled with people who were still in process, so this doesn't turn into permission to write people off.

This isn't a guide to spotting a toxic friend. It's a question: what is closeness costing you that you haven't named yet.

Called out, or still finding out?

About the host: Whitney Kay is a content & sales strategist in brand partnerships with 15+ years as an entrepreneur and 6+ years leading discipleship and small group ministry. Called + Convicted is her show on discerning calling and defending conviction — for anyone caught between what culture's selling and what God's asking.

Listen and follow: Instagram @heywhitneykay | TikTok @calledandconvicted

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