In this post, you will learn about 10 qualities of bad friends according to the bible to help you spot and weed out bad friendships in your life.
It’s just a matter of fact that a bad friend can negatively influence your life and hinder you from fulfilling God’s purpose due to their bad sinful influence in your life.
This is why you need to choose friends carefully as a Christian. With that aside, let’s look at the 10 common qualities of bad friends according to the bible to help you spot them.
10 Traits Of A Bad Friend.
Below are the 10 traits of a bad friend based on selected bible verses that are very different from a good friend who’s godly and wants the best for you.
- They’re Toxic.
- Bad Influence.
- Jealous Of You.
- Not Loyal.
- Gossip About You.
- They Tell Lies.
- Unreliable.
- Draw You Away From God.
- Have Fake Hidden Love.
- Self-Centered & Selfish.
1. They’re Toxic.
It’s a known fact that bad friends will always be toxic in your life and will always have a tendency to want to drag you into their toxicity and drama in their lives.
As a Christian, you need to be wise when you are dealing with a bad friend who’s toxic and wants to corrupt your Christian life with their toxic sinful lifestyle and evil behaviors.
Yes, you can pray for your toxic friend who’s trying to drag you into their toxic drama but do it at a distance so that you don’t get corrupted by the sinful behavior they want to corrupt you with.
2. Bad Influence.
A bad friend according to the bible will always have a bad influence in your life and will be determined to see that you are just as bad as them.
The apostle Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 15:33 in the New Testament that we must not be deceived as bad company corrupts good morals. As a believer, choose godly friends who will edify, encourage, and strengthen you in the things of the Lord.
Avoid any bad friendships in your life that have a negative influence and try to sway you away from God but draw you towards sin. Choosing bad friends is the reason why many Christians have been ruined. Don’t be that person.
3. Jealous Of You.
Another quality that a bad friend unlike a good friend will have is they will be jealous of you especially if you are happy and doing better than them, e.g. the case of Saul and David as we see in 1 Samuel 18:8-30 where he wanted to kill David.
Consequently, these people will try to backstab you and sabotage your life behind your back so that you can be a failure, miserable, and a nobody in life like them. A person who’s a real friend will never do that.
As a Christian, beware of such evil wolves that come to you in sheep’s clothing in the name of friendship but secretly want to bring you down with their jealousy as a good and true friend will never be jealous of you.
4. Not Loyal.
Bad friends are also not loyal people at all as their loyalty is to their selfish needs they want to be met at any cost. They only use you as an accessory to get what they want from you and immediately dump you if you no longer serve them.
I am sure you have come across such types of fake friends in your life even in church, sadly who have used you for their selfish gains and then discard you if you no longer serve their selfish needs.
It’s so sad even in the church to find a true godly friend who exhibits unconditional loyalty and love like the one Ruth showed to Naomi in Ruth 1:1-16 in the Old Testament. Everyone even in church is all about themselves nowadays which is sad indeed.
Recommended: Moral Of The Story Of Ruth In The Bible & Vital Lessons.
5. Gossip About You.
Unlike a true friend, a person who’s a bad friend will always gossip about you and spread false rumors to damage your reputation.
A good friend will never gossip about you just so that they can look better and holier in front of other people. Only fake friends do that and they do that for their selfish gains.
If you are a Christian who has such fake Christian friends in your life, you need to eradicate them before they do irreversible damage to your life because that’s not what true biblical friendship is all about.
6. They Tell Lies.
Bad friends will never hesitate to tell you lies or betray you like Judas Iscariot right to your face especially if those lies they are telling you are serving their hidden selfish agenda.
I am sure you have been lied to by a fake friend in your life who pretended to be your true friend many times after you uncovered their evil plot of them using you for their gain.
On the contrary, real friends will never lie to you and conceal vital information that will be of benefit to you even if there are conflicts of interest which may happen from time to time, especially in the workplace or church.
7. Unreliable.
A person who’s not a good friend will also be notoriously unreliable especially when it comes to fulfilling the lofty empty promises they made to you when push comes to shove.
I am sure you have encountered many unreliable friends in your life as a believer who promised one thing but did the other. When you confronted them, they came up with all sorts of funny and meaningless excuses for not doing what they promised.
With such type of unreliable friends, if you have them, you will never make any meaningful progress in your life as such people will always be dragging you down and hindering your success.
8. Draw You Away From God.
Unlike godly friends or a godly friend who will draw you closer to God, a bad friend will do the opposite that is to draw you away from God as far away as possible into a den of sin and mischief.
Never entertain a bad friendship that tries to alienate you from our Lord Jesus Christ as no friendship in this world is worth giving up Jesus for. Jesus Christ is the only real friend you will ever have in life who will never fail or betray your trust.
On the contrary, human friendships are fallible and will let you down from time to time. This is why you must cut out any evil friend who tries to separate you from God with their sins. If they want to go to hell, let them go alone.
9. Have Fake Hidden Love.
If you are in a bad Christian friendship, you will also notice the fake and hidden love that will come from that fake friendship you will have where you will only be loved for what you can benefit them not for who you are as a person.
This fake love will come in many forms. One example is that a person you think is your true friend in that toxic friendship is they will hide vital truths from you and tell you lies.
Rather than correcting you in love when you stray, they will pretend everything is fine and then laugh at you when you fall into a ditch or run into trouble. Always remember, as Proverbs 27:5,6 tells us open rebuke is better than hidden love fake friends will try to show you.
Recommended: 17 (Must-Have) Characteristics Of True Love That’s Of God
10. Self-Centered & Selfish.
Last but not least, people who are bad friends will always be selfish and self-centered and whatever friendship these people have with you will only be for their benefit.
This is the case with many fake friendships nowadays that are only there to milk you like milking a cow and then discard you like trash if you no longer benefit them.
This is why Jesus Christ must be the only friend you must give your heart and unconditional trust as only He will truly love you selflessly without hidden agendas as there is no greater love or friendship than that of Jesus who died for you.
Recommended: 7 Major Reasons Jesus Is Our Best Friend (One & Only).
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Conclusion.
I hope the above post on the 10 qualities of bad friends according to the bible will help you avoid any bad friendship that’s of bad influence in your life.
My prayer after reading this is God help you choose godly friendships that will nurture and help you grow as a person and not alienate you from Him.
In closing, if this post has blessed you, let me know in the comments below, and remember to share with everyone who needs to see this. God bless.
Other Related Posts.
- 7 Perfect Examples Of Good And Bad Friends In The Bible.
- 5 Peculiar Qualities Of Jesus As A Friend (Only He Has.)
- Really Who Is A True Friend According To The Bible?
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Great teachings
Glad you enjoyed them. God bless.
You know I read so many and hear many Pastors talk about bad friends in our lives and to keep a distance for you bet walk with Christ but I feel it needs to be mentioned or also talked about family. We tend to neglect those same toxic traits for the title of family and wish more was clarified that it’s not just friends it really is anyone around you that shows these toxic traits that you need to be weary of and make good boundaries and maybe some suggestions on how to deal with those people biblically that are harder to manage I think anyone can go but I have a lot of people that argue it’s fa ont and you can’t treat them the same as friends
That’s a good suggestion, dear sis. Just in case you want more on dealing with toxic family members biblically without any drama as requested, I think this post What Does The Bible Say About Evil Family Members? will be of great help to you. I hope that post will answer all your questions concerning evil family members and how you must handle them as a Christian.