2 Chronicles 18:1
"Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance, and joined affinity with Ahab."
As an individual, Jehoshaphat was a good person. When God talked about the life of Jehoshaphat, he described a man who did right and tried to follow the footsteps of his father David. God revealed the heart of Jehoshaphat by saying, "And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the LORD..." Jehoshaphat was truly a good man who tried to do right.
However, the good that he did was destroyed by his associations. It says in the verse above that he "joined affinity with Ahab." The word "affinity" reveals why Jehoshaphat made bad decisions concerning his associations. "Affinity" means that he married the daughter of Ahab. Jehoshaphat's wife was Athaliah. She was a very wicked person who followed in the footsteps of her mother Jezebel. Jehoshaphat had no business marrying this woman.
This association shows us why Jehoshaphat did many unwise things. This association shows why he entertained the four hundred prophets of Baal in verse 5. This association shows why he would fight with Ahab, a man who hated God. This association shows why he joined up with Ahaziah in business because Ahaziah was his brother-in-law. All the good that Jehoshaphat did was destroyed because of his associations.
This association caused Jehoshaphat to eventually lose his life. It caused his firstborn son and grandson, who took the throne after him, to lead Judah to worship Baal. It eventually caused all of his sons to be killed by his wife Athaliah. Truly, Jehoshaphat paid a dear price because of his bad associations. All the good he did was corrupted by one bad association.
It does not matter how good of a person you may be, if you join up with bad people it will destroy your good. 1 Corinthians 15:33 says, "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners." Whom you choose to associate with will determine what happens to the good in your life. You must always remember that you are as strong as your weakest association. All of your associations but one can be good, and the one will destroy all the good.
Let me remind you that you can live a decent life and have one bad association and it will corrupt the good you do. Most of your life can be good, but one association with a wrong television program will corrupt your good manners. One association with a wrong website will corrupt the good that you have tried to establish. One association with a liberal preacher will corrupt the good that you have tried to establish in your children. One association with a bad person will corrupt the good that you have tried to teach your children.
You need to look at your life and see if you have one bad association that is influencing you. Let me remind you that you may think a bad association is not influencing you, but if you are associated with something bad it is influencing you. Don't think that it doesn't have an influence on you. Friend, it may not be influencing you, but it is certainly influencing your children and your future grandchildren.
Let me encourage you to take some time and look at the influences in your life. Remember that one bad influence will "corrupt good manners." Whenever you find a bad association or influence, remove it so the good in your life will not be corrupted.