"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work. If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up."
~Ecclesiastes 4: 9-10

As I mentioned in my blog today, Lisa Whelchel talks a lot about having walls around her heart for most of her life. She talks in her autobiography about learning early on in her life that doing things well was how you earned praise and love. So, instead of just feeling she was worth love naturally, she believed that she was only worth love if she performed well or succeeded at something. And, as a result, she became very guarded. She was very autonomous and independent and certainly didn't let anyone into her heart so that they could see any weakness or flaws.

When I think about forming relationships, I think about how we have to let down those walls. For some of us, letting people into our heart is easy. Within minutes of talking to a stranger, some people are sharing intimate details of their life and welcoming this new person right into their heart. For others, there are very high, thick walls around the heart and penetrating those walls is next to impossible, especially for a stranger.

We all need to strive to be somewhere in between these two types of people. We need to let people in, but we need to do so with discernment. There are numerous passages in the Bible about choosing our friends wisely. I believe that these verses are a good guide for who we should choose to "let our walls down" with. Read the following verses and let them be a guide to you for who you should let into your heart and who you should responsibly keep out.

"Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers ..." (Philippians 3:2)

"But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us." (2 Thessalonians 3:6)

"Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you have learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple." (Romans 16:17)

"He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed." (Proverbs 13:20)

We all need to pray for the Lord to send people to us who we can feel safe to let our walls down with and the discernment to know when they have entered our lives.