I’ve been mulling over some things lately. Like friendships! Me being the social butterfly type….I really like having friends. My kids are the same way. Hubby…well….he’s cool with or without! He’s content hanging on his own with just us as his bud’s. The rest of us…not so much. I mean, we like hangin just us…but we like having lots of friends. It’s just fun that way!
But friends let you down. They can disappoint or hurt you. They can also move or leave forever. It’s all a risk that friendship thing. One we should all be passionate about taking. Friends can help mold us into the people we need to be (if they are healthy and holy). They can also bring us down…..and cause us to sin or stumble. Have you ever thought about what kind of friend you are? I have. Believe me, there have been many times I’ve had to say I’m sorry or forgive me. I feel it’s necessary to get serious and sling out some “clues” regarding being a good friend. I hope you like them….and if you know of something I didn’t mention….well….comment and let me know. I really want to be a kickin awesome friend!
1–Be a real friend. This sounds hokey, but it’s true. Remember your mom saying, “if you want to have a friend you have to be a friend?” Well, she was right. Be kind, loving and accepting. You really never know who will be your next BFF. Treat people as if.
2–Be trustworthy. No one likes getting stabbed in the back. I wish I could say this only exists in younger ages (like elementary/teen years) but it is alive and happening into adulthood. Don’t blab what a friend says to you in confidence to anyone. It will ruin your friendship and forever mark you as untrusworthy.
3–Be forgiving. I have to say a real friend will accept and grant true forgiveness. Are you a friend like that? I hope so. Cause people make mistakes. I’m so glad God forgives me over and over.
4–Be Christ-like. Life can be so tough. If you’re in a relationship with someone that is mean-spirited or jealous…..and professes Christ….something might be off kilter. Christian friends honor God with their words and actions. Godly friends will want to do what’s right in God’s eyes….no matter what!
5–Be a balcony friend. What’s a balcony friend? I’m glad you asked. It’s a friend that pulls you up. It can suck the life right out of you to have a friend that drags you down into the basement. Speak words that encourage and lift each other up. Smile, laugh and find the good in every situation.
6–Be available. In this hectic day and age it’s important to make time for friends. Everybody needs a little fun outside the normal mundane things. So get together and do stuff you like to do. You’d be surprised at how much your perspective changes on everything. Think of it as a love tank filler upper.
7–Be thankful. Speak words of gratitude to your friends. Let them know how you feel about them and how you love and appreciate them. I have some of the world’s most wonderful friends and I love to tell them that…..and I love hearing it back. They are the sweetest ladies in the world for loving me. I am blessed and I want them to know it.
8–Be you. Yep, just you. It’s so easy to think we aren’t good enough or we don’t measure up. But real friends….want you to be the best you. No one else on this earth can be you. So just do it….be you. You’re awesome, remember? God don’t make no junk!
Now….for some verses. Get ready. 🙂
Proverbs 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”
Matt. 12:34 “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”
Proverbs 28:26 “He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe.”
Matt. 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”
Eph. 4:2 “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”
1 Thes. 5:11 “Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
Rom. 12:10 “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.”
Eph. 4:32 “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
Prov. 17:17 “A friend loveth at all times.”
John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
Lord,
I want to be a friend like you. I want to love and not judge. I want to take away any pain or sadness my friends may have. Help me to love and forgive like you. Show me when I fail and need to make a change. Pierce my heart when I sin against my friends and set me on a new path. Thank you for the grace of friendships. I feel like the most blessed friend in the world.
Amen.