BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS.

BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS.

 

Staying in one place for a long time can feel safe, familiar, and comfortable. There is nothing wrong with comfort, but too much comfort can quietly become a limitation.

 

Sometimes, when our value is not recognized, we conclude that we are not good enough. But perhaps the problem is not always the product, it may be the environment.

 

THE VALUE OF THE SAME BOTTLE OF WATER.

 

Imagine the same 500ml bottle of water costing $1 at a roadside shop, $3 at a restaurant, $5 at a lounge, $6 at a hotel, $8 at an airport, and $10 or more on an airplane.

 

The water has not changed. The bottle has not changed. The environment has changed.

 

Likewise, you may carry tremendous potential, gifts, creativity, and purpose, yet find yourself in an environment that does not recognize, develop, or appreciate them.

 

This does not mean we should run from every difficult situation. It means we need the wisdom to recognize when an environment has become too small for what God is developing in us.

 

God told Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you” (Genesis 12:1). Sometimes, growth requires movement.

 

YOUR ENVIRONMENT CAN BECOME YOUR IDENTITY.

 

If you stay at a fish market long enough, you will eventually smell like fish.

If you spend a long time around a bar or nightclub, you may come out smelling of alcohol, smoke, or both.

But if you spend time in a place filled with beautiful perfumes, you can walk away carrying a pleasant fragrance.

 

What are you carrying from the environment you spend your time in?

 

Our surroundings influence our thoughts, language, habits, standards, attitudes, and eventually our character.

 

“Bad company corrupts good character” (1 Corinthians 15:33).

“Walk with the wise and become wise” (Proverbs 13:20).

 

Influence happens gradually. What once disturbed you can eventually become normal through prolonged exposure and compromise. Therefore, Scripture says, “Avoid it, do not travel on it” (Proverbs 4:14–15).

 

But changing location alone is not enough. You can leave a toxic environment and carry the same mindset with you.

 

So examine yourself: What are you choosing, creating, tolerating, and allowing around you?

 

Change your thinking. Change your habits. Change your associations. Change what you consume. Change what you tolerate and when necessary, change your environment.

 

Sometimes the environment is the problem; sometimes we are the problem. Wisdom is knowing the difference.

 

A PRAYER FOR SEPTEMBER.

 

As August ends, may September be fruitful, peaceful, purposeful, and filled with God’s favour.

 

May God give you discernment to recognize what is helping or hindering you, courage to make necessary changes, strength to walk away from what is harmful, and grace to become all He has purposed you to be.

 

May He order your steps, guide your decisions, surround you with the right people, and place you where your gifts can flourish and your life can bless others.

 

May you not only find the right environment, but become the right environment for others.

 

May your life carry the right fragrance wherever you go.

 

Amen. 🙏

 

God bless you and see you through September.

 

Daniel O.

Aka: Comanda1