Who Do You Need To Unsubscribe From?

Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm. - Proverbs 13:20

I don’t know about you, by my email inbox has seemed extra cluttered these days. Maybe it’s from all of the email lists I ended up on from my holiday shopping. Or maybe I’m proving to be an easy target for Instagram ads. Either way, it feels like I’m being flooded with emails that I don’t even want to read.

Each morning, I find myself logging into my email and performing a mass exodus on my inbox, deleting anything that doesn’t sound interesting, inspiring, or helpful. Finally, last week I came to the point where I’d had enough, and I realized I was tired of having to delete 84 emails a day. It was time to unsubscribe from the people I no longer wanted to hear from.

As I became very familiar with where to find the little unsubscribe button at the bottom of each email, I couldn’t help but think that this should be something we not only do with our inboxes, but with our personal lives as well.

By that I mean, there may be people in your life whose words, opinions, and guidance you need to unsubscribe from. Maybe there’s someone in your life who seems to frequently give you bad advice. Maybe you have a friend who continually encourages you to make poor decisions all in the name of “fun.” Or maybe you know someone who is constantly gossiping about others.

Whatever the case may be, it might be time for you to unsubscribe. Now, I’m not saying you have to stop being friends with these people. That may not be necessary. But just because you’re friends with someone doesn’t mean you have to take their opinion and advice as gospel.

Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived. wrote in Proverbs 13:20, “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.” This verse couldn’t be more clear. If you want to be wise and receive wise advice, you need to surround yourself with wise people. And part of surrounding yourself with wisdom is filtering out the advice and opinions from unwise people.

So, is there someone in your life whose input you need to unsubscribe from? If so, I would encourage you to start by asking the Lord to give you wisdom as you identify the wise and unwise people in your life. He promises to give wisdom to those who ask for it, so you can trust Him to answer your prayer. And as He grants you this wisdom and discernment, move forward with confidence in knowing who you want to seek advice from and who you don’t.

Remember, it’s okay not to take everyone’s advice. You don’t have to live your life to appease other people. From one people pleaser to another, your Heavenly Father is way more concerned that you’re following His guidance and the guidance of people who point you back to Him.