Free The People Factor: How Building Great Relationships and Ending Bad Ones Unlocks Your God-Given Purpose by Van Moody Page B

likely take advantage of your commitment to integrity, but they have no intention of making that commitment themselves.
    If there has ever been a brazen example of a person with impure motives, it was a man named Judas. We first read about him in the ancient literature of the New Testament, but his spirit and his ways have pervaded every generation and are still at work today. Perhapseven you have encountered one of his descendants. They are far too common, and being in relationship with them is, frankly, a living nightmare.
    No one knows exactly why Judas connected with Jesus at first or what his motive was for becoming a disciple. But somewhere along the way, his motive went wrong. Given the opportunity to betray Jesus for a nice sum of money, he did so (Matt. 26:14–16). He wanted worldly gain more than he wanted to be loyal to a friend. His betrayal set in motion the events that led to Jesus’ crucifixion and to his own demise. His polluted motive would not allow him to rest until he delivered Jesus into the hands of killers. Once the deed was done, he was so miserable he could no longer live with himself and committed suicide (Matt. 27:3–5).
    The story has lots of lessons in it, but the one I want you to notice right now is this: Judas’s bad motive overtook the good influences of people around him. He was one of the disciples; he spent a lot of time around a group of men who certainly were not perfect, but they were sold out to Jesus. They were hungry for the things of God, and they dearly loved and deeply respected His Son. They gave up everything to follow Him. But the positive influence of eleven devoted disciples could not quench the bad motive in Judas. Even significant exposure to the Son of God Himself didn’t cause Judas to let go of his wrong motives and get his heart right. First Corinthians 15:33 summarizes my point: “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’ ” This is a fact of life and relationships: Bad tends to out-influence good . Everything bad begins with wrong motives.
    Trying to assess a person’s motives is not easy. It can take time and it requires asking questions. But you must get to the truth. Being associated with a person of impure motives can ruin your life, but being in a relationship with someone who has a pure heart and right motives can be one of the best things ever to happen to you.
    A Passionate, Consistent Pursuit of Excellence
    If you want to realize God’s best for your life and have His best in your relationships, then you must launch out on a lifelong pursuit of excellence and surround yourself with people who hold the same high standards. You need to be around people who challenge you to grow and who refuse to allow you to settle for mediocrity. Surround yourself with others who have sold out to excellence. This is part of having integrity.
    Stay away from mediocre people who are satisfied with who they are, where they are, and what they are doing. A casual or common attitude toward life will lead you to a place of disappointment and defeat. Mediocrity is an infectious, contagious disease that will penetrate deep into the crevices of your life and kill any desire for personal improvement. Mediocre people will halt the progress you have made; they will disguise themselves by saying all the right words, but ultimately they are in your life to hinder your future. So require excellence from the people with whom you associate. Ask them to live extraordinary lives and to demand the same of you.
    Excellence is a quality that almost always earns respect, and excellent is definitely an adjective people want used when they are being described. But wanting excellence is altogether different from achieving excellence. People often say they want excellence in their lives, but they stop pursuing it because the cost is too great. They are not willing to pay the price to obtain the prize. They become discouraged and quit when they realize that excellence requires