| Original Date: September 1, 2009 |
| Email Subject: What kind am I???? |
Dear Fellow Christ Followers,
Several years ago I overheard one of my mentors make a statement to someone who was complaining about how cold the church they were attending was. This couple was quite concerned that the church they were going to was unfriendly, with no one reaching out to them. My friend Curt Lehman, (who was not someone they should have been telling this to by the way because of how he would respond to this kind of thing) graciously and lovingly told them this, "You know, to have a friend you need to be a friend." Up until that time I had never heard that before, but now after three or four decades, I really believe that to be true. So many Christians want others to reach out to them, but don't realize that as a Christ follower, we see nothing like that selfish kind of thinking in scripture at all, but what we do see is our responsibility to extend the right hand of fellowship/friendship to those God puts us around. "What kind of friend are you," is such a healthy question to ponder in our day and age of loneliness and heartache.
In the book of 1 Samuel chapter 18:1-4 we see the story of true friendship, between David the anointed of God King of Israel and Jonathan the son of Saul, rightful heir to the kingship according to tradition. There are seven characteristics of "True Friendship" in this text that it is good to think on as we walk with those God puts in our path for the days ahead. See, fellow Christ follower, we can't determine how people treat us, but we sure can make sure we treat those we are around "well" for His glory. I will just list these for our reading pleasure and evaluation of how were doing (by the way these are concepts that transfer to our marriage's as well).
A True Friend is:
- Respectful
- Admiring
- Loyal
- Sacrificial
- Honest
- Person of Integrity
- One who unconditionally loves as they have been loved by Christ
Now I know these are hard, but when we walk in the power of the Spirit of the living God this is what flows out of our life (that helps me understand if I am not walking in the Spirit of God when the opposite is happening). Some say, "but I don't get these in return," that is so often true, but when I consider Christ, I did not treat Him that way, yet He still is a "Friend of sinners," that helps me a lot.
Have a great day my "Friend" as we extend the kind of friendship to those we are around for His glory!
Pastor Doug
-This weekend at Cornerstone we will close our series on "The Heart of a Warrior," by looking at the subject from selected passages of "Having a Mature Heart." It is great to see more and more men, women, young people making choices to honor God with their worship and learning from His Word, instead of out playing on the weekend. Take a moment this week and invite a friend to join you for Church.
-Fall is upon us, there are many opportunities to serve the living Lord, if you have any questions about where you can get plugged in please see me or one of our staff, we would love to help you!
-"The Heart of a Great Marriage" conference is coming up in Oct. for more info see our web site or stop in the foyer to pick up information. We truly want to have strong homes which impact our society for His glory. |
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