Do I really need Christian friends?
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Hopefully, while at church, you made some great friendships. You swapped contacts and @gram so you can continue that friendship. However, there are some that question, “Do I really need other people to be a Christian?” YES! Listen, while your salvation isn’t based on a relationship with anyone but Christ, it’s those other relationships that can help you grow closer to Christ and maintain that relationship!
There was a time when I was pretty physically fit. I was at the gym 3 to 4 mornings a week and saw great improvement. I accomplished goals I only dreamt of in the past. What was the difference? My workout friend! On my own, I would easily quit. When the pain got to be too much, or so I thought, I would stop. However, a friend saw my frustration with a lack of improvement and offered to help. That one relationship alone made all the difference. She was able to help me push through the hard times. She helped cheer me on when I was struggling and held me accountable in various other areas that could ruin all the work I was putting in.
Our faith is like our fitness. There will be hard times that will cause us to question it and there will be temptations that will test it. That’s where our friends comes in. We need people around us that will encourage us, hold us accountable, give us comfort in times of trouble and help process when questions or doubt come our way.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 is an example for those kinds of relationships. It tells us that people journeying together can produce spiritual fruit (v. 9), experience spiritual restoration (v. 10), inject spiritual zeal (v. 11), and, maybe most importantly, provide spiritual protection from our mutual enemy — Satan (v. 12).
All throughout scripture we see the need for spiritual friends. We need to be part of a group that not only helps us, works with us and holds us accountable, but one that also allows us to do the same for others. As believers, we are now part of the body of Christ. Numerous scriptures refer to this showing how the body works together. You have a part and the body needs you just as much as you need it.
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Prayer
Dear Lord, teach me to love others the way you first loved me. As I build relationships with others, let them see you in the extent of my generosity, the authenticity of my kindness, and the depths of my love. All of those things are only possible through you, the God who abides with me and calls me friend. Amen.
Journal Book Questions:
1. What did God say to you?
2. What did you say to God?
