In my line of work I talk to people on almost a daily basis that are dealing with hurt and pain from friendships gone bad. The are any number of reasons that friendships can and do go bad, and regardless of the reason it usually leaves those involved with pain and hurt. We all desire to have good friends and strong, healthy relationships.
The strongest foundation you can have for building healthy friendships is making sure that your own relationship with God is right. When you are born again and have His Spirit living within you, then the good fruit of the Spirit begins to grow.
By spending time each day in prayer and reading the Bible you will be learning a lot about God’s character and what he desires for us in our lives. You’ll find yourself treating others with more respect, love and care because it is an extension of your relationship with God. All of the fruits of the Spirit that we read about in the Bible will help to produce healthy friendships.
If you and I are friends and we are both in strong and healthy relationships with God, we will certainly have a healthy relationship of our own as friends. When things are right with God they can’t help but be right between us. We’ll desire the same things for ourselves and our loved ones. Issues that often come between friends will not be able to bother us, because we’ll have a strong foundation in our relationship with God.
Of course, because you are living right and in a positive place with your relationship with God, that doesn’t mean that your friends will do the same. But at least you will be doing the right thing and you’ll be bring positive things to the friendship regardless of what the other person is doing. Control what you can control and pray for others that may need a better relationship with God.
In the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians we are presented with a guideline for having strong relationships. It talks about love and the various characteristics of it. We read about how love impacts our relationships and how we can have strong, lasting relationships.
God, thank you for being an incredible friend to me! And thank you for all of the other amazing friends that I have been blessed with. Please help me in my life to do the things that I need to do to have a healthier relationship with you, and with my other friends as a result.
Dr. Ann Shorb provides counseling to individuals, families, and couples from her Hanover, PA office. She helps clients with a wide variety of issues including Christian marital counseling, premarital counseling, addiction, AD/HD, depression, anxiety, and more.
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