Happy Friday Friends!
I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day as a glorious new day begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama! :)
This week I want to share a few excerpts from The Seven Laws of Love: Essential Principles For Building Stronger Relationships by Dave Willis. This is an excellent book and I offer it my highest recommendation for those who genuinely want to build better relationships in their lives.
The excerpts I am going to share this morning come from Chapter 11 which is titled, Loving Your Friends. The first excerpt comes from a section Dave titled, The Litmus Test Of Friendship.
"Here are a few key traits that should be present in any healthy friendship. These are straight from the Bible, so you can use them as a checklist in your friendships to make sure you and your friends are on a healthy track.
1. Friends forgive.
Friends don't bring up old dirt and gossip about each other. They forgive and seek forgiveness with transparency and humility.
"Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends." (Prov. 17:9).
2. Friends love unconditionally.
They are there for you when you need them most, not just when it's convenient. We should love each other with the same kind of love God has shown us.
"Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other" (I John 4:11).
3. Friends have your back.
Loyalty is vital to friendship. There's no such thing as a "frenemy."
"There are 'friends' who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother" (Prov. 18:24).
4. Friends tell you the truth.
Even when it's hard to hear, friends will speak the truth in love. An enemy will tell you what you want to hear but won't love you enough to tell you a difficult truth.
"An honest answer is like a kiss of friendship" (Prov. 24:26).
5. Friends make each other better.
Friends don't pull each other down; they lift each other up. They encourage one another toward continuous improvement.
"As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend" (Prov. 27:17).
6. Friends communicate openly.
Friends communicate openly, honestly, and respectfully.
"I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn't confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me: (John 15:15)."
Powerful, isn't it? When I read it I thought it a great list of what true friendship looks like and I just had to share it with y'all! :)
And a couple of questions/challenges for all of us:
1. How are you and I doing in our friendships? Are we the type of friend described above? Let us use this as a checklist to search our own hearts and to adjust where necessary. And please, let's not spend our time beating ourselves up over our failures of yesterday...we cannot change them. But, this day right here, well, we have new choices, new decisions and beautiful new opportunities in this day! :)
2. How are our friends doing in their relationships with us? Do we have true friends, as described above? If we think someone is a friend however there is an issue with some of the areas above, let's walk out "friends communicate openly" and "friends make each other better." And please remember, conflict, and properly dealing with it, gives the relationship the opportunity to grow stronger roots. It is not a bad thing if handled properly, it is a growth step.
I also want to share a couple of quotes that I came across this morning in my reading...still in the same chapter - I told ya this book is good!!! :)
"When we love people, we make it a priority to be present with them. True friendship requires availability. We aren't just there in the moments that are convenient for us; we're also there in moments that are important to them."
"...people aren't interruptions to our agendas; people are the agenda."
Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.
Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, please cherish your precious families, and please stay healthy and well.
Kev
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