FRIENDSHIP
Friendship is the catalyst for every other love and the foundation of
every healthy relationship. God created us to need each other. We need
friends and we need to be a friend. The emotional demands on women are
vast. One of the ways God replenishes the emotional drains we experience
is through friendships. Many women are convinced that the risk of
having close friends outweighs the rewards.
Friends will hurt
you. Friends will wound you. We would be wise to don thick emotional
gloves when it comes to handling friendships. It is a fatal mistake to
assign the responsibility for our happiness to friends. In reality,
depending on a friend to make us happy sets that friend up for failure
in the relationship and positions that friendship for inevitable
destruction.
Every friendship has a price tag of some kind attached. We just need to get to the place where love covers the cost.
The
words of 1 Peter 4:8 say it well, "Love covers a multitude of sins." In
this verse, "cover" literally means to "hide" or "overlook" the faults.
Friendship knows the weaknesses are there, but chooses to love anyway.
Friendship is always costly but always well worth the cost. Openness
and honesty nourish friendship. We are naturally drawn to transparent
people because transparency produces authenticity.
Jesus made a
deliberate choice to be transparent, modeling friendship at its best. He
was hurt, betrayed and rejected by those He called friends. Still
today, He waits for you and for me, longing to be the most transparent
and authentic friend we have. Life can be a very lonely place. Jesus
knows. Friendships are not only an important source of encouragement,
but a valuable source of strength as well.
Let's Pray
Father,
I must admit it is sometimes easier to be lonely than it is to
be authentic and real with others. Forgive me for letting fear keep me
from reaching out to someone in friendship. I am willing to risk being
hurt. I am willing to be transparent in order to be a better friend. I
lay every friendship at Your feet as an offering of praise for the
Friend You are to me.
In Jesus' name - Amen
