The Value of Godly Friends

Outside of my salvation, I consider my biggest blessing from God to be the brothers and sisters in Christ that he has surrounded me with.  When I was an unbeliever I was always afraid to let others in on my life as I kept most of my friends at a distance. They were never told the details of any of my struggles, weaknesses, doubt, or fears. I found value in being that guy that was always strong and was there to help everyone else with their problems. When those friends didn't do something that I agreed with I felt as If I had been wronged and they owed it to me to see things how I did. I think we take this view with God often but that’s a different blog post. Needless to say I thought I was an awesome friend to others and put on a mask of being a great dude but that was far from the truth. Once Christ came and got me this was one of the main things he begin to challenge me on. He showed me that my intentions were caught up in trying to prove my worth to others. Thankfully Jesus has freed from this bondage and my closest brothers know how wretched of a person I am. We can now pursue holiness together knowing that none of us have a shot without the blood of Jesus.  I say all this to guide you into why I hold my brothers and sisters in Christ so dear.

I was in the gym today and happened to be listening to Justin Timberlake’s new album (Laugh if you want, but i have had this joker on repeat lately). I found these lyrics highly interesting.

Now don't it seem like these days

That everybody's got something to say

But I don't pay attention to the talk baby

I know I have had The “I don’t care what anyone says” attitude.

Without Christ friendships are held together by tiny strands of rope that can easily be cut in half by knifes of hypocrisy, jealousy, envy, etc. With Christ however, our friendships, like everything else are built upon the rock which is Him. Do the same issues that destroy non godly friendships still exist? Absolutely! The difference is that those who are truly filled with the Spirit battle those desires with the help of the Spirit before they surface. The Spirit convicts us when we have those thoughts and beats them down keeping them from turning to actions. Let’s say I am dating this girl (April Fools right?) and one of my brothers, I can think of one in particular, approaches me saying basically that he doesn't have a good feeling about this. I can rule out jealousy, envy and other emotions as I know that he is only concerned with things that bring me closer or farther from God. On top of that he would never come to me with his own words but he comes yielding the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16). It is examples like this that bring feelings of thankfulness. 

Christian, I implore you to surround yourself with Godly brothers and sisters.  When you find yourself confronted by one of them it would behoove you to examine yourself. God often uses other people to get His message across.  I know that I would not be anywhere near where I am now if not for people that God has put in my life. Words cannot express how thankful I am for those people. I can honestly conclude by saying that Godly friendships are invaluable.

 Proverbs 27:5-6 Better is open rebuke than hidden love. 6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.