Godly Friendships Week 2, Day 2

Brag on Your Strengths (Friendship)

Let’s break down our definition of friendship today and make sure you understand the words coming out of my mouth. A friend is someone who brags on your strengths, covers your weaknesses, and never talks behind your back.

1. They brag on your strengths.

That means they encourage you. They are for you. They want you to succeed not only spiritually but in every area of your life. They are your biggest fans. They say things to you like, “that was awesome.” “You are so talented.” “I’m so glad we are friends.” “You do that better than anyone else I know.” “I know I can always count on you.”

Do you have a friend like that in your life? Are you that kind of a friend to someone else? 

A man was in bed with his wife when he heard a knock on the door. It was three in the morning, and he didn’t want to get out of bed. His wife rolled over and said, “Aren’t you going to answer that?” He gets out of bed and goes to the door. He opens the door, and the man says, “Can you give me a push?’ He looks at the man and says, “It’s three in the morning, no.” and then he slammed the door in his face.

He walked back into his bedroom, and his wife said, “That wasn't very nice. Do you remember that night we broke down in the pouring rain, and you had to knock on that man's house to get us started again? What would have happened if he'd told us to get lost?"

The man said, "But it’s 3 in the morning.” The wife said, "It doesn't matter. He needs our help, and it would be the Christian thing to help him." So the man gets out of bed again, gets dressed, and goes downstairs. He opens the door, and he’s not able to see the stranger anywhere, so he shouts, "Hey, do you still want a push?" and he hears the other man’s voice and he says, "Yes, please!"
The man says, “Where are you?” The stranger cries out, "I'm over here, on your swing."
Do you know anybody who needs a push? Every day we have the opportunity to encourage those around us that God has placed in our lives. I’ve never met anyone in their whole life who said, “Don’t encourage me. I’ve had just about enough encouragement for the day. I don’t want to hear one more encouraging word out of you.”

1 Thessalonians 5:11 tells us to “Encourage one another and build one another up.”
In your friendships, do you encourage each other to be all that God created you to be? Do you build each other up, or do you tear each other down? Do you both say words that inspire the other person? Do you speak words to each other to help the other person see their potential, and do you encourage them to reach their potential?

Too many friendships are toxic. Rather than building each other up, they tear each other down with jokes that make the other person feel less than, with sarcasm and put-downs. If you are that kind of friend or you have someone who does that to you, it’s time to have a conversation with them and to stop doing that.

Treating another person that way will never build a friendship up. It will only tear that friendship apart. Be an encourager today!

Time Out

1. Look up Ephesians 4:29. What kind of words should we avoid, and what kind of words should we say to each other.

2. Look up Ephesians 5:4. Write down the kind of words that we should never say to another person or have said to us.

3. Why do you think encouraging each other is so important?

4. What are some words or phrases that you could use today to encourage one of your friends?