Everyone Needs a Friend

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.

For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Luke 6:38

Everyone needs a friend.

Yet, truly remarkable friends don’t come around all the time. Even though that may be true, we still want those kinds of friends all the time, don’t we?

A friend is someone on whom you can depend, trust, be vulnerable, cry with, laugh with, celebrate with, and be understood.

So how do you find those kind of friends? Are there people like that in the world anymore?

Yes there are! And thankfully, Jesus gave us a process for how to find those kinds of friends in Luke 6:37-38. But here's the rub...

To find that type of friend, YOU need to BE that type of friend.

You and I both need to learn how to BE better friends, don't we? Now I'm not saying we need to be perfect friends. Please don't hear me say that. No one can be a perfect friend. We just need to begin learning to be the kind of friend WE want to have.

So, if you are ready to explore that idea (and some of you may not be ready... and that's ok) then here are some questions to start asking yourself:

What kind of friend are you? A good listener or quick to give advice? A calming presence or an agitated spirit? A forgiving heart or a grudge holder? Quick to be offended or quick to overlook the offense? Quick to judge or quick to release from judgment? If you’re honest with yourself, it’s very difficult to be the type of friend Jesus described. But, even though it’s difficult, the risk is worth the reward, apparently. How do I know that?

Jesus affirmed in verse 38 that when we learn to be that type of friend, and we give God’s goodness to others, that same goodness “will be poured out into your lap”.

So what does the goodness look like that you are pouring out into your friend’s life? If you want to be thanked for something, are you writing a thank you note? If you want to be praised for something, are you praising someone else? If you want to be thought of, are you telling someone else you are thinking of them?

When we do those kinds of things for other people, we are being the type of friend that Jesus encouraged us to be.

Here’s something to try: what is one way you can simply reach out to one friend today to let them know you are thinking about them? Remember this is NOT a time to send someone on a “guilt trip”. Nobody needs that today. This is a time to simply give God’s goodness to someone you call a friend. Send a note, a text with no strings attached, or a short phone call or voice message. And remember, whatever it is, let it be filled with the same love and goodness that Christ has shown you.

Thank YOU for being my friend today!

Todd