Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj explains the importance of having a source of inspiration in spiritual life.
Inspiration is necessary in our lives. A devotee who can inspire us throughout our whole life in our best friend. We may see that we have many friends in this mundane world, but actually our bondage within this world comes through them. Liberation from the mundane world is first of all necessary, and that comes to us through devotees. Devotees maintain their lives in this world, but they do so in the plane of liberation.
bhaktis tvayi sthiratara bhagavan yadi syad
daivena nah phalati divya-kisora-murtih
muktih svayam mukulitanjalih sevate ’sman
dharmartha-kama-gatayah samaya-pratikshah
(Krishna-karnamrita: 107)
A devotee prays, “O my Lord, if I can maintain my devotional life steadily, I will see Your presence within my heart. Then mukti [liberation personified] will ask me, ‘How can I serve you?’ and dharma, artha, and kama [religion, wealth, and enjoyment personified] will await my orders.”
It is necessary to maintain our devotional life. The best thing for this is to get the real association of a good devotee. If we get this then we can say that we are very fortunate. The main thing is association. Association gives us everything: goodness, or badness, or madness. If you associate with a good man, you will be good in the future. If you associate with a bad man, you must become bad in the future.
We always need inspiring association. We must find inspiration to continue our practicing life.