Friendships are Worth The Effort!

Proverbs 25; Proverbs 26; Proverbs 27; Romans 15
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Scripture

Proverbs 27

17 As iron sharpens iron,
so a friend sharpens a friend.

Observation

I don’t know why but surveys have shown that most pastors don’t have many close friends. I find that fact, if it is true really strange, but even worse I find that statement very sad.

I meet with a group of men from our church every week for breakfast and they have become very close friends and I meet with four other pastors every week for lunch and have been meeting with them for over 2 years maybe 3. They are my very good friends. I have some other close friends that I don’t meet with very much because they live in another state and some other close friends that live here but their schedule and mine keep us from getting together a lot. (Actually we just don’t schedule our time good enough to make the time to get together).

I can tell you that if I had a crisis or if I had a huge decision to make these are the men that I would talk to. Do you have friends? Do you have close friends? Do you have friends that will get on your case? Do you have friends that will encourage you? Do you have friends that will confront you when you are going off in the wrong direction?

I have learned that friendships take effort. When someone is going through a rough time you go through it with him or her. When someone is stuck and struggling with an addiction you don’t give up on him or her. Friendships change over time. God brings new people into your life. He brings new friends.

Friendships are hard. They take work. They can get messy. People can be frustrating. All of us can be hard to live with and all of us need to be knocked down a notch or two every once in awhile. I thank God for my friends.

Application

I will take time to talk to some of my friends today that I haven’t talked to recently. How about you? Who do you need to call? Who do you need to write? Who needs to hear from you?

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for my friends. Thank You for surrounding me with such wonderful people. Thank you for the men that hold me accountable each week. I pray that you bless them today. Help me be a friend that people can count on.

I pray for Eloy today that you bless him. It was great seeing him yesterday and talking about old times. Thank You that You never give up on us and that You are constantly working in our lives to bring us to a personal relationship with You.

And thank you for my very best friend Kathy. She is the very best gift You have ever given me. Bless her and give her strength and energy to serve You today. Amen.

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