The Best of Friends预览

The Power of Friendship

Our culture talks a lot about things like leadership, finances, travel, fitness, and career progression. Although people all over the world are lonelier and communities are more fractured than ever, there are not many podcasts, Instagram feeds, YouTube channels, or books dedicated to the topic of friendship. As believers, we need to celebrate God’s gift of friendship, explore the pressures our connections with others need to endure, to discover biblical wisdom and follow Jesus’ example as we seek to grow our relational ability. God made us for friendship with Him and others, and if we learn from God how to be friends, our world will surely have fewer societal divisions and fewer lonely people.

God called creation "good". When He created man, He called him "very good" (Genesis 1:31). After that, God said it was "not good"for man to be alone, and He created woman (Genesis 2:18). The fact that God considered something to be not goodin a still-perfect world speaks volumes of the importance of human connections in God’s eyes. And the gift of one human to another didn’t end with Adam and Eve. God’s Word tells the friendship stories of Lot and Abraham, Aaron and Moses, Caleb and Joshua, Naomi and Ruth, Jonathan and David, Elijah and Elisha, Jeremiah and Josiah, Jesus and His disciples, Barnabas and Paul, and many others. Imagine how differently these life stories might’ve turned out if one of the characters had decided to go it alone.

Our bodies confirm that we’re created for friendship. An eighty-year Harvard University study of adult human wellbeing found that longevity and happiness are affected most by the quality of a person’s relationships. The sages, scientists, sociologists, and scriptures agree: we were crafted for connection. Perhaps your next step is to think of ways to offer life-giving friendship to someone in your community who is isolated.

Just as your physical life is impacted by connections with others, so too is your spiritual life (Hebrews 10:24-25). At a crucial time in his ministry, John Wesley was advised, ‘Sir, you wish to serve God and go to heaven? Remember that you cannot serve Him alone. You must therefore find companions or make them. The Bible knows nothing of solitary religion.’ Perhaps that advice resonates with you. Don’t go it alone. I know from experience that friendship has the power to save and sustain my spiritual walk. My passion for friendship arose from a place of pain. The Covid pandemic and the loss of my mother plunged me into a tough season that I got through because of faith and friendship. I needed the rod and staff of the Good Shepherd in the darkest valley, but I also needed the warmth and company of my fellow sheep.

Today, surrender all your friendships to God. Acknowledge before Him that friendship is powerful, and a gift from Him. Commit to deepening the connections in your life for the good of the world and the glory of God.