Hanging with coal?

Imagine you have some black, dusty pieces of coal and a nice, soft white marshmallow. Now, if you put the marshmallow in a bag with the dirty coal and shake it up, what will happen? The marshmallow will get all dirty, right?

The friends we hang out with can be like the coal. If they make bad choices or do unkind things, we might get "dirty" too, even if we don’t want to.

In the Bible, Proverbs 13:20 says that if you hang out with foolish people, you can get hurt, just like being friends with an angry person can lead to lots of fights.

God, like a good dad, wants us to be careful about who we spend time with, so we don’t end up in trouble or feeling hurt. Instead, it’s good to be around kind and wise people who help us be our best.