The Blessings of Friendship
Today I want to talk with you about friendship. It's a word that is often overlooked and is never given enough attention! Friends come in all different shapes and sizes. Some examples of people who offer healthy friendships are close friends, casual friends, life-long friends, acquaintances, work friends, best friends, and same-chapter-of-life friends (just to name a few!). However, and unfortunately, there are also unhealthy friendships that include these types of friends - toxic, manipulative, controlling, one-sided, and clingy. I would venture a guess that most of us have experienced most of these types of friendships in our lives. To me, the most difficult is a friendship that you think is healthy, and then it suddenly becomes something unhealthy and you just don't know why! Sometimes we just need to let go and move on... like Jesus tells us in Matthew 10:14 "If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet."
The cool thing is that God is constantly offering us new opportunities for friendship. You have all heard me talk about my covenant group. I have never in my life had friends that I loved so deeply and trusted so immensely. Beth, Becky and Nicole are always there for me - in the good times and in the bad. They know things about me that no one else will ever know (well, of course, except for God). We truly love being together and sharing our lives and I miss them a great deal if I go too long without seeing them. (Zoom is a lifesaver for us - we Zoom every two weeks for at least 2 hours!). And yes, I have many other friendships that are life-giving and I have had many other friendships that were needed during a season of my life (as well as unhealthy friendships that I have had to end).
In essence, healthy, life-giving friendships are a gift from God - a gift we must always be thankful for and nurture. We should never take our healthy friendships for granted. This is one of the reasons I am writing this today - to remind us that we must let our friends know how much they mean to us and strive to be a healthy, loving and compassionate friend back to them. I truly love Beth, Becky and Nicole and I am careful to make sure they know of and feel my love all the time. My prayer for you is that you have these same friendships in your life. They are truly life-giving.
A great place to start to find a friend is in Jesus. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you." (John 15:12-14) and the next verse goes on to say, "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." (John 15:15) Jesus longs for us to "accept his friend request" (to use some Facebook lingo) and to love him back!
Also, if you are seeking deep and meaningful friendships, I urge you to look around you in church. You already have a common bond with every member of your church family. That bond is our love for Jesus. Maybe God is calling you to a deeper connection with someone. I invite you to reach out to somebody, maybe share a meal or a cup of coffee. You never know what friendship might develop. By the way, I met Beth, Becky and Nicole through our church connection. And now I can't picture my life without my "Pastor Posse!”
Grace and Peace
-Pastor Madeline
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