Christian Friendships, part two

I would suggest that you read part one first if you haven't already, it will make more sense. :)

Having Christian friends is not only good, it is important! Being with like-minded people not only is encouraging and uplifting, but makes being different not so hard. Because you are being different with others! As the verse above says, “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.” That means that when you are alone, you don’t have a very good chance of winning; but when you have a friend with you, you can defend yourselves. And a cord of three strands, or friends, is not quickly broken. When you have friends with you, you are very difficult to overcome!

For example, you became a Christian not long ago, and you haven’t been able to find any Christian friends yet. You are at school and one of your former friends asks you to go do something with him, and you don’t know if you would be going against God to do it. What do you do? Well, as a new believer, you probably don’t know many scriptures to back up your answerbiblically. You don’t know enough about the Bible to know for sure if doing it would be bad or not; and you are alone. You have no friends to help, or back you up.

If you were put into that example, you would be in a tough spot. You would probably be overpowered, and you might do something that would be very difficult to get out of. But what if we changed the scenario a bit...

You became a Christian not long ago, but you’ve been going to a local Youth Group that is firm in God’s word, and you’ve made good friends who love you no matter what. You are at school and one of your former friends asks you to go do something with him, and you are not sure if you would be going against God to do it; but you do have one of your friends from Youth Group with you. What do you do?

That would be an easier scenario, wouldn't it? You would have another believer with you to help you, and hopefully they have been a Christian longer and know more about the Bible than you do.

Having Christian friends is so important. And most probably take it for granted. I started going to my church’s Youth Group last year, and since then I have learned so much. Before I went to Youth Group, I was in a mental box. I was very shy; I didn’t talk to hardly anyone outside of the family, and I didn’t have many close friends. Going to Youth Group, I saw all of the others having a great time with each other, and they included me. Through these Christian friends, I broke out of my box, and now I laugh and chat with them all the time. A year ago, if I had been told that this is who I would be now, I wouldn’t have believed it. But it is because of my dear brothers and sisters in Christ that I act the way I do now. I am different, yet the same.

Christian friends not only help you in tough situations, but they encourage and lift you up, they teach and correct you when you are wrong, they pray for you, and so much more. As a Christian friend, we need to do the same, encourage and lift up, teach and correct, and pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

– 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV)

In Christ alone,

Buttercup