Girlfriends Guide to Friendship

Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family. Proverbs 18: 24 (The Message):   speaker Jen Zick

Signs of a healthy friendship:•You feel loved and accepted as you. You don’t have to prove anything.
•You are comfortable being open and honest with your friend.
•When you think of spending time with this person, you smile.
•Your memories of time spent with this person bring you joy.
•You can be real about your faith, your convictions and values (even if they don’t share the same beliefs).
•Your friendship doesn’t tempt you to sin or compromise your values.
•Your friend protects your confidences, and shares hers with you.
•Your feel like a better, brighter version of yourself when you spend time with this person.

Signs of an unhealthy relationship
•You feel judged, or that you need to prove yourself (clothes, house, decisions about raising your children, marriage, etc.)
•You hold back on things you’d like to say, because you’re afraid that your friend will be defensive or angry. (Beyond the normal filtering.)
•When you think of spending time with this person, you feel tired. You may create excuses to avoid them.
•Your memories of time spent with this person are dull or regretful.
•You don’t talk about your faith, convictions or values.
•You find yourself in situations or environments that aren’t “true to you” –where you may be tempted to sin or compromise values.
•You can’t trust this person with your confidences.
•You feel like a worn-out, lesser version of yourself when you spend time with this person.

THE MOST IMPORTANT FRIENDSHIP
Is Jesus my BFF?

1. Have you invited Jesus into your life and heart, and asked him to forgive your sins? Are you confident that if you died today, you would spend eternity with Him in heaven?

2. Do you know his love for you? Do you feel that love alive inside of you in how you relate to others?

3. Do you make time for Jesus? Are you proactively investing in your relationship with Him?

4. Have you asked him to be at work in you, and in every one of your relationships, for His glory?

 If you are not sure of your salvation in Jesus, you can be today –It’s the MOST important decision you’ll ever make. Perhaps you have invited Jesus into your life, but you have not prioritized your relationship with him. He’s reaching out to you, but you’ve been drifting away, caught up in your own life. If you have not made Jesus your BFF, now is the time. Make him #1 on your list of friends to proactively seek out.

What friends might God be bringing across your path? What opportunities might you have to make a Christian connection or minister to a non-believer in your communities? Make a list of your primary communities below (MOPS, neighborhood, church, school, workplace, clubs, activities, other). Next to these items, jot down any actions you feel God is leading you to take to connect with others (i.e. Invite Jake’s mom to MOPS). If you’re not sure, just pray that God would lead you and help you to keep an open heart and open eyes.