Kathy Ireland - The Importance of Friendship and Fellowship

Kathy Ireland- National columnist for Christian Living magazine-"...finding solutions for families,
especially busy moms."

     

  

The Importance of Friendship and Fellowship

By Kathy Ireland

 

During a visit to Hawaii, a local pastor wrote an article that was truly inspiring. The subject was the crucial place that friends and fellowship play in our lives. We need relationships which are intertwined with our faith. The Bible speaks of everlasting friendships. Clearly, these are important to God. 

            David was told: go in peace for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the Lord. Every word of our Bible is true. Every moment of His Word is teaching us how we are to live with each other.

 

Valuing Friendships

 

            Do we make friends then carelessly break our friendships? Are we practicing forgiveness and compassion? Do we turn the other cheek when we are disappointed? As sinners, we often forget the power of true fellowship, forgiveness and friendship. Too often, when people confront us with the consequences of our actions, we say, "well...we're just not the friends we used to be." 

The question is: are you being the friend that your friend really needs? 

            Friends are more precious than jewels, and fellowship is more precious than all the gold on earth. We need people in our lives who are able to talk with us, counsel us and pray with us.  All of our friends need not share our faith, but as Christians, we need a church, we need fellowship and we need friendship in our lives. We need human beings like ourselves to remind us every day of how perfect God is. We must love our friends and not judge them. If we look for a perfect friend, we'll never have one at all-unless we are looking for Jesus Christ. 

            Sometimes we are so caught up in our own world that we neglect those who love us most. Often, we feel abandoned and neglected, when the real question is, how much love are we giving to our friends? Are we confusing our friends with people with whom we are just friendly?  Can our friends count on us to be there no matter what? Scripture is filled with relationships that withstood challenges and stood the test of time. I believe a friendship that we won't fight for...that we won't pray for... is not really a friendship at all.

We are all capable of not realizing that sometimes we take our friends for granted. We don't mean to do it; but as human beings, it's going to happen. Please make an effort to spend time with your friends and time reading His Word and talking about Him. We have two signs in our home that are really important to me. Capital J. Capital O. Capital Y! Many of you know that refers to my priorities of ...Jesus, Others, You! 

 

Giving or Taking?

 

            When we connect in friendship and fellowship, are we giving or taking? We all have pain.  We all have bad days. We all have sorrow. The question is: are we sharing our difficulties in a way that can uplift our friends?

            Here's a tough question? Are you treating your friends in a nurturing, loving way? Are you making time for them? Is that time being spent filling them with your problems, or is that time spent helping your friends solve their problems?  If you find that people aren't there for you, you must ask yourself, "What am I filling this friendship with?" Is it of God? Too often, we fill those who love us with negativity, and then we wonder what went wrong? 

What do you do when your garbage can becomes full? You empty it immediately, and it is taken away in a dump truck which is made out of steel and has wheels. That means the truck has no feelings. It just takes all of the garbage that you don't want...and rolls away with it. Here's a hard question? Are you treating your friends like those garbage trucks? Or are you able to share your issues and listen to their concerns as well?

Too often, we miss glowing opportunities of fellowship and friendship because we don't invest the time and the patience that Jesus teaches us we need to share with each other. We often meet people who become only acquaintances. We must not confuse acquaintances with the treasures of friendship. We can and should have fellowship with strangers. We are all brothers and sisters when we share the love of our Lord with each other. But how can strangers help us stay accountable in our walk with Jesus? Each of us must take our own responsibility.

 

Best Friends

 

 Jesus never moves away from us, but too often we move away from Him. Since the age of eighteen, my best friend-my Lord and Savior-has been and continues to be, Jesus. Yes, the word friend has many meanings. It is a different word in the heart of each person.

Please be grateful when you are able to combine friendship and fellowship. That is a beautiful, inspiring and powerful combination. The relationships of true forgiveness, fellowship and friendship are bound together like the beautiful hymn, "Let the Circle Be Unbroken." The true circle of friendship and fellowship is about loving God, considering others' feelings, sharing a beautiful connection and always remembering the love and support that we are to give to strangers and certainly to friends. Please understand that acquaintances may come and go; but faith, friends and fellowship? Open your heart so that you may experience them forever and ever. Amen.

Thank you for your friendship and for keeping me accountable here at Christian Living.  

 

Love, Kathy