Friendship

God created us as relational beings (to have relationships).  Our relationship with Him is the most important relationship in our lives but we also have a need that is fulfilled in friendship.  The right kind of relationships/friendships will help our relationship with God because the better we relate to our friends, the better we relate to God.  I might also add that the better our relationship is with God, the better it will be with our friends.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 - "Two are better than one . . . . . . If one falls down, his friend can help him up . . . . . .  Friends are an important aspect of our lives.  They make us better beings.  They help us know ourselves better.  

Selwyn Hughes makes an excellent point in his devotional book Every Day Light.  He warns that we are not to be friendly just to gain a friend because that is the wrong motive - it is self-centered.  His point is that we must desire to be a friend more than we desire to gain a friend.

Many years ago, my husband and I were transferred to Tupelo, MS and I was lonely with 2 young children.  I prayed for God to send me a friend and He brought Proverbs 18:24 (KJV)to my mind.  "A man that hath friends must show himself friendly."  I was very shy and I had not been very friendly.  I knew the Lord was telling me I would have to be friendly if I wanted friends.

Be friendly!  Be more interested in being a friend than in gaining a friend.  I think you will be rewarded.  I was!

Serving Him,
Kay Martin