Ten Steps to Stronger Friendships

Do you get too many emails? Things to buy. Shows to watch. Places to visit. I also get a lot from Hikers, All Trails, National Parks and more. Throw in news updates and sport scores, I get hundreds every day. But the ones I really love to get, but too often file away are the Christian articles – End Times News, Christian music, Pastoral Leadership, Mohler’s daily briefing, Denison’s updates, Rainer, LifeWay and more.

Like I said, I often just file them in a separate folders to get back to later. And I rarely do. But today, I came across a link from Lightsource Presents, a Salem Web network. The link went to ibelieve.com and an article by Becky Harling, a best selling author and speaker.

The article was “10 Practices that Will Strength Your Friendships.” I admit I have a problem here. I am a friendly guy, but I do admit I can always be better at being a friend. So this click bait grabbed my attention so I clicked and read. Here is my summery …

• Encourage them. (1 Thes 5.11 … Encourage one another … )
• Listen to their stories. When someone is heard, they feel loved.
• Love their families. Hey, you want my attention, pay attention to my family.
• Cheer for their accomplishments. (I would add their less than stellar endeavors as well … cheer for them!)
• Stay loyal. (Stop talking behind the back and betrayals)
• Respect their limits. Friends can be like fish, too much to it leaves quite a stench.
• Forgive their weakness. We all have flaws and need forgiveness. And we forgive because we are forgiven.
• Apologize and make amends. (this is the other side of the previous point … forgive them when they mess up, fess up when you do)
• Savor your times together. (avoid distractions, stay focused)
• Pray for their burdens. (show you really care!)

Which one catches your attention? Which one do you need to work on? Is there something you would add?

I think we all need to work on being better friends. I know I do.