Seeking Deep Friendships

Seeking Deep Friendships
Posted on Oct 30, 2016 in Devotions
by:  Shiela Bernardo

Sharing life together must mean more than just the casual hi’s and hello’s. Many seek closeness where you feel part of a family that carries each other’s burdens. We all want to connect at a deeper level with others who could relate, comfort, support and pray for us. We all yearn for a true confidant, to have one and to be one.
 
Real friendships don’t call for a façade so that you are likeable at all times. But unmasking a layer of our struggles exposes our weakness and we fear that judgment is imminent. Transparency is sutured in seasons of time where trust builds up. So putting up a wall is the easier choice.

1 Corinthians 12:12 says: “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.” If one part aches, we all feel it. Plainly looking at the surface we may not be able to point out where the sore site is, but we still sense the discomfort.

When we’re the one hurting, often we slink into a protective barrier as our own form of defense mechanism. But overtime, this is more damaging. There is no authenticity in the company you keep. And the usual pleasantries become taxing. You walk into a room feeling disconnected. There is very limited support system around you. And if we carry this outlook, the church would be filled with a lot of fake people who are just occupied with self-healing, instead of selflessly being there for one another.

Be encouraged that God Himself considers you a friend (John 15:15). And that no matter how raw it gets in displaying one’s true nature, the people that God put around you know how to accept, forgive, and rebuke lovingly. He has placed people in your path who sticks closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24).