friendships

Wounds from a friend are better than kisses from an enemy. It says that in Proverbs. I want to express that in life. I want to trust the Lord to 'wound' me in order to bring about growth and transformation inside me - and for the most part, He'll be needing others to co-operate with Him. Are you up for that? Are you committed to playing this role with all your friends?

There are so many encouragements about friendship and supporting each other in Scripture.
How do we do that.. how do we have the courage to speak honestly to each other... in love? Do you experience that in friendships? Do you feel truly held up, loved for who you are as well as who you aren't?

I'm preparing for an upcoming retreat where I'll be sharing the speaking duties with an incredible new friend and woman of God.. we want to talk about relationships, and the theme of the weekend is friendships.

God encouraged me through friends this week, and I received love and concern, prayers and encouragements through the hands and words of God's people. I was reminded how vital it is that we submit to each other and hear what needs to be heard. Its vital that we have the courage to say what needs to be said, too. I received other kinds of gifts through friends, too.

One friend told me that I had slighted my husband in a conversation where she was present. She was sort of sheepish as she said it, but concluded with 'I love you and I know you want to grow, and I know you can handle this.' I realized immediately that she was right, I had intervened unnecessarily in a situation I should have let alone. I went from our visit straight to Bren to ask for forgiveness. Later in the week, another friend interrupted me mid-sentence as I described something I was rather passionate and intense about, and asked if I meant to be coming across as angry and defensive... because if that wasn't my intent, then I needed to change my tone. Hmm. Two brave 'confrontations' from people who know how much I want to be like Jesus and who love me enough to push me toward that impossible goal I'll be working at for my whole life.

How about you? I'm really interested in how we love, encourage, push, and challenge each other. Has a friend wounded you in necessary ways? Have you received meaningless kisses from people who don't really care about your transformation as a disciple? Has a challenging truth been lovingly shared with you? How commom is this? What does the content of our friendships say? I'm interested in knowing...