Good afternoon and how has been your week so far. Let me quickly share with us this afternoon; 4 Biblical Principles that I have discovered to attracting the right kind of people into your life. One way or the other as we journey in life, we all need the right folks around us along the way. God has designed it that we should thrive in relationships, not just any kind of relationship, but the right relationships. These Principles I am about to show you, when you apply them in your life, you will see yourself thriving in all that you set your mind to do.

 

The first principle is Mutual Influence. 1 Corinthians 15:33-34 tells us: "Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” ³⁴ Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame." The people you attract into your life must be able to have some influence on you. Any friend you don't deem fit or you don't think can have any iota of positive influence on you is not worth your time. And mind you, since I am talking about godly influence and successful living in this piece, it then means that whatever the influence it is, it must be a positive influence. It must be an influence that has the capacity to push to the next level.

 

You constantly need people in your life who would look you in the eye and say to you "you can do it." They will be there every step of the way until they have seen you become what they saw in you. There are times we have certain potentials lying dormant in us that we don't even know exist. Sometimes it takes an external eye to spot these potentials and then push us into making use of them. Don't forget a saying which goes thus: "everything remain at a state of rest until an external force is applied unto them." It takes the right people to see all the right things in you.

 

Companying with those people is all we would ever need to reach that success that we have been dreaming of. Remember, Proverbs 13:20 says "he who walks with wise men shall in turn be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed." As simple as it seems, by walking with the wise, a man could also become wise. By walking with the fools as well, even if one was wise before, it will be a matter of time before one too become foolish. So, one biblical principle of friendship you must not forget is mutual influence, and this is absolutely important.

 

Another biblical principle is what I call Mutual Advantage. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 shows us a perfect picture of this.

 

Two are better than one,
Because they have a good reward for their labor.
¹⁰ For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For he has no one to help him up.
¹¹ Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;
But how can one be warm alone?
¹² Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

 

To succeed in life, you cannot do without collaboration. There is no such thing as "I did it alone" or "I am self made." Everyone at certain points or the other in their lives would require the efforts of others, no matter how little, in getting to their desired destination. As successful as Dangote is or Bill Gate for example, there is no way they would have been deemed successful today without the numerous efforts of members of staff in their respective organizations. No matter how strong we think we can be on our own, we simply need the efforts of the right people in our lives. This is why we must try as much as possible to attract these right people. Jesus as we have seen, was an embodiment of the God-head. But He still needed to select few men to help Him spread the gospel.

 

In Luke 10:1, the Bible recorded that "After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go." This shows us that no man, irrespective how big and powerful he may be, needs collaboration. Jesus would rather send these apostles into places where He would love to go. Why didn't He go there all by Himself? Jesus was trying to teach us this principle of collaboration. Even though He could go to these places, but He may not have been able to cover much ground all by Himself doing it alone. So, He appointed seventy people to help out in the task. The same story was told of Moses as well. Numbers 16:11-30. The Bible says:

 

"So the Lord said to Moses: “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you. ¹⁷ Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone. ²⁴ So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord, and he gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. ²⁵ Then the Lord came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again."

Numbers 11:16-17, 24-25

 

There was no way Moses could have been that successful if not for the collaborative efforts of the seventy men that he had appointed. To be successful in life, you need the right collaboration. Not just that, you need the right people to collaborate with. There is nothing wrong in collaborating, it does not make you look stupid or lazy, no! Many may criticize you and say "you don't need people, you should be able to execute this thing by yourself." But I tell you, you actually need people. Imagine Jesus alone doing all the going about, from town to town, city to city and villages to villages. He would have accomplished His assignment anyway, but tiring while at it. If you don't want to wear out before reaching that success, then you must adequately collaborate.

 

Another biblical principle in attracting the right people is Commitment. Proverbs 18:24 tells us "A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." One of my life's Principles that I have imbibed so much is this commitment. When we have committed people around us, either working for us in our organizations or we just have them as friends, people like this are not meant to be maltreated or be dishonored. Commitment is not easy to come by. I mean, you yourself can see all around you how uncommitted people are to even the most noblest of causes.

 

You see marriages crumbling simply because either the man or the woman have refused to show commitment. You see organizations not growing simply because the staffs of such organizations aren't putting in their best, they are not committed to the work so to say. Sometimes you even see politicians not committed to the cause of governance, all they are just after is their own pockets and not the cause of the people. So, when you see men and women who are faithful, who are committed to a particular cause, such men and women are to be held in high esteem and accorded all the dignity available.

 

The disciples were committed to the cause of Jesus. At some point Jesus had preached a powerful sermon that saw a number of His disciples walked away from Him. John 6:60 and 66 shows us the picture of what happened. The Bible says: "Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?” From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more." Then in verse 67 of the same chapter, Jesus turned to the remaining disciples, those whom He had called to be with Him and said: "Do you also want to go away?" Then Simon Peter responded in verse 68 by saying; "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

 

This is absolutely nothing but commitment. No wonder they were able to take the gospel and preach it everywhere even when Jesus was no longer with them. They stuck with Jesus even after His death, committed to preaching everywhere until salvation got to the Jews and the Gentile nation. What is the point here? If you are ever going to be successful in life, you cannot joke with committed people. You must attract them into your life by all means.

 

The last principle to attracting the right people into your is Mutual Agreement and Sharing. On a normal level, I am of the opinion that relationships should be symbiotic. There must be something you are giving and there must also be something you are getting in return. Jesus said to His disciples; "follow me, and I will make you" in turn. So that tells us if they follow Him as He had asked them, they themselves must look forward to that making that He had promised, making it a two-way thing, a symbiotic relationship.

 

Why must there be a mutual agreement? Because somebody may be wondering "why should I enter an agreement with someone that I call my friend or why should my friendship be based on terms and conditions?" This is the context in which I am talking from here. There must be mutual agreement in the sense that those you attract must be the kind of people that wants to go or can go the extra mile for you, especially if it is a working relationship. There must be this agreement that we are working together for a common goal, and not a divided goal. If you run an organization, you don't go about attracting people who would not promote the goal of the organization or have their own mission even while running on the vision of the organization that they belong to. Some people have their own personal vision running parallel alongside the vision of their organization. When this is the case, what you will have is division and no longer a single mission. And in case you are wondering, this is the number one reason why many workers are not committed to their organizations. Amos 3:3 says "Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?"

 

The last thing under this last principle is sharing. You must attract people who will share ideas with you that relates to your pursuit. The Bible says Jesus at a point asked His disciples what they needed to do at a certain moment even though He Himself knew what He would do. John 6:4-6 shows us this account. "Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. ⁵ Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” ⁶ But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do." Jesus knew what He would do but He still asked, meaning that He believed whatever ideas His disciples would come with, even though He may end up not using them, He would still hear them out. But it shows that they have the capacity to share with Him as time and occasion warrants or demands it.

 

In summary, one of the secret of speed and success in life is hinged on the people that we have surrounded ourselves with.  Any friend or ally that will not see to your growth and success in life is not worth having. Jonathan said to David at a point he will not rest until David become king, even though he knew the man David was a threat to his own father who was the reigning king at the time. I think everyone needs a friend like Jonathan in their life, someone who will put sentiments aside and ensure that his friend ascend his rightful place as the king, who would not be jealous or feel threatened by his advancement and success in life.

 

Thanks for reading.

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Obayomi Abiola Benjamin!

Feel free to share your thoughts or testimony in the comment box below. I promise to respond to them as soon as possible!