So on our recent trip to West Virginia into the mountains we did some morning and evening devotionals. My intent was for them to begin to forge relationships with people who will care for them, pray for them and help them reach their potential as believers as well as people. We talked about the number of friends many of us can boast of on Facebook and Myspace vs. the number of true friends we have. Friend is a word we throw out there a lot, I think back to high school and I had a lot of friends I would have had a pretty healthy looking Facebook account(if it had existed way back when, haha) and lots of acquantances but to this day only a dozen or so of those friends are still close friends that I keep in contact with. And only about half of them stay in close contact with me or even contact me when there is an issue. It's sad but true, we need to spend far more time being friends and far less time trying to have friends.
Romans 12:9-10 Love must be sincere, Hate what is evil and cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love and honor one another above yourselves.
Now let me ask you, how many friends do you have that you honor above yourself? That tends to be a very short list doesn't it, but if you are being a friend you are putting them and their needs first. We do a great job of this with family and loved ones, but not so great with friends and such.
As a pastor I constantly need to exemplify this type of selfless living to those in the flock and those involved in our ministries. But, I find myself not doing such a great job of it to those friends I have outside of the flock because it just doesn't come automatic all the time.
So love your family, love your friends and work hard to put them first and lower yourself so that you can become a great friend to those who need you most.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!
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