Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Good verses Godly Friends


“One quality of a godly friend is helping others to reach their goals and to get to where they need to be. No we can’t walk on water, calm the storms in our friends lives, or land their boat where they want to go. But we can point them to the Friend who sticks closer than a Brother.” ~Lysa TerKeurst & Sharon Jaynes ~ A Woman’s Secret to a Balanced Life: Finding God’s Refreshing Priorities for You

It’s amazing to think the desire to have a good friend seems to be naturally built in to us. Early on in life we strive to find that “perfect” good friend. We go to school and return either with the attitude no one wants to be our friend or we have found someone immediately we think will be our best friend for life.

Nothing wrong with that but the sad part is how we have taken a good thing and twisted it all around to be something it was never intended to be. The world’s vision of a friend is one that will help them cheat on a test, buy alcohol or cigarrettes for them or cover for them while they wander away in mischief.

Boy do we have it all wrong. A true friend is one that will help each other to reach their goals not encourage them to never achieve any. A good companion will walk their friend to where they need to be not necessarily where they “think” they want to go. A good friend, no matter how good they appear to be, cannot walk on water. Oh, sorry to burst any bubbles. They may have the ability to calm a few waves but never the whole storm. As much as they would like to they can’t dock the boat their friend is riding on exactly in the right place at the right time. But……!

Oh this is a very big BUT so read on. But they do have the ability to point their friend to the Friend of all friends, Jesus Christ himself. It doesn’t get their alcohol purchased or their drugs bought but it does buy something of greater worth, eternal salvation and peace of mind and a pleasant end to a long journey. It is in Jesus that we will find the Friend that can calm storms, who has walked on water, and who will land our boat right where it needs to be.

We aren’t in a popularity contest like we were back in our school days where the person with the most friends won. In the real world the person with the right kind of friends is the winner. That right kind of friend is one that is like Jesus who is not there to tell us what we want to hear but to tell us what we need to know. There not to stop all storms but there to guide us through the ones we find ourselves in. One that isn’t around to show off walking on water but there to give us the Living Water we need to surround ourselves with.

A true gooooood friend is a godly friend stretched out in order to place their loving arms around us. What good is friend if we continue in our old ways, never improve ourselves and just continue to self-destruct because we didn’t have someone around that cared enough to keep us going straight?

Care about your friends. Point them in the direction of the true Friend in Jesus Christ. Indeed the one who will stick closer than any brother or sister ever would. Praise the Lord. As they say, “two are better than one.” When it’s us and Jesus in that equation it makes it even better in the quest for a good verses a godly friend.


Our host today is Patricia. “Hi Patricia!” Hurry on over to her blog, Typing One-Handed and get started reading and sharing.

© 2010 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

2 comments:

Debbie Petras said...

Karen, I wasn't sure if you were hosting this week. I thought Patricia of Typing One Handed was. I added my link to yours as I saw others do so.

Your take on this quote was good. I agree; a true friend points you to the only One with all the answers; Jesus.

Patricia Marie said...

Hey Karen, thanks for the notification. I added "IOW" to the title of my post so it's easier to find. You can add it here: Typing One-Handed - BFFs: God Wants His Daughters to Be Social Creatures

Thanks for posting as well. Great thoughts!