MY LIFE AND MY FRIEND (PART TWO)

Welcome back to the second part of our series on friendship. In the first episode, we discussed the meaning of friendship, what friendship entails and the dire need to pack out all bad friends before it is too late. In this new series, we shall be addressing the need for strong friends and everything we stand to gain when we are with the right set of friends. Practical ways to build quality friendship will be addressed too in this episode. As always, get ready to unlearn some things you have learnt before, you will need to learn new things and finally relearn some information you have heard before. This is a journey your life will be grateful you passed through. Let’s go through this together!

In our walk through the seasons of life, there is an urgent need for strong friends that will stick with us and stand with us through those diverse seasons. There is a truth everyone must always remember, the possibility of evil days manifesting at different points in our lives. No one deserves it, and we don’t get to arrange which one will come and the ones that won’t come, we only pray for the grace to overcome them all. The answer to the prayers we always pray to God for grace and strength to stand through difficult times might come sometimes in the form of God leading a person into our lives. It can be one person, two, three, etc. the most important thing here is to be able to discern the purpose for every man that walks into our lives. how do you treat people that come into your life? that quiet course mate you just snubbed might be the answer to an agelong prayer request you have been crying to God about. The truth is, most times, we don’t get to know who people really are and how sweet they can be until we get closer. Your association, those around you tells us more things about you than you can imagine. If your friends are strong people, there is more tendency that you will be strong too through their influence on your life. So, never think you are the only ingredient you need to enter greatness, you need others!

The most important friendship in the life of everyman is friendship with the Holy Spirit. It is an essential friendship we must all cultivate because truly our success in life depends heavily on this. One of the major assignments of the Holy Spirit on earth is to comfort us and teach us all things. Jesus while speaking about the Holy Spirit said: “but when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me” – John 15:26. The word “helper” here can also mean comforter. Holy Spirit comforts us when we are hurt, He teaches us when we need to be instructed, He leads us through every season of our lives. What more can we desire in a friend?

Why do you need the relationship with the Holy Spirit more than anyone else? The reason is, He is the perfect person for you, men can fail, men can break trust, men can backstab you even after staying with you for decades, but HOLY SPIRIT WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU! He must be the model friendship that you will build your other friendship on. How do you cultivate friendship with the Holy Spirit? Building a walk with Him. When we make the decision to walk with God daily through our commitment to our quiet time and communion with Him, we are accepting the offer of friendship with the Holy Spirit. In the place of communion, we get to gist and express all our fears and desires with the Spirit of God, it can be as real as that! The testimonies of men that have experienced a heartfelt relationship with God keeps shocking the world because it seems almost unfathomable that the Almighty God can relate so well with mortal men. You might need to pick up a material on walking with God to increase your consecration on that. Try The Holy Spirit and you will never be able to leave Him for life! After you have established a quality friendship relationship with God the Holy Spirit, then you can go ahead building strong friends that will stay with you for life as you journey through destiny fulfillment.

When we make the decision to walk with God daily through our commitment to our quiet time and communion with Him, we are accepting the offer of friendship with the Holy Spirit.

Who stays with you today matters! The circle of influence around you today tells a lot about how your today will be and most importantly how your tomorrow will look like! We are all products of our relationships. Starting from our parents, to our teachers and our friends. To everyone you allow in your life today, in form of friends, class mates, etc. their staying with you today, the time they spend with you, and all that you guys do together will really drive your future in one way or the other! All that you do today is a seed sown into your tomorrow, it is just a matter of time, you will harvest them all. The reason why you are still where you are today is because some people are still in your life. on the other hand, some of the success that you can see in your life today will not have been possible without the heavy input of some of your friends. So, make sure you stay in the right circle, it will make your journey to success easier.

All that you do today is a seed sown into your tomorrow, it is just a matter of time, you will harvest them all.

How do we cultivate quality friendship with others? This goes a long way into our attitude towards our relationships. Attitude is everything. Who do you see your friend as? If all you see in them is gist partners and comedians then you won’t spend time building things together with them. In building friendship, we must be intentional in making sure we extend the love and affection we want to receive into others. The love and seriousness you give is what you will receive in a matter of time. Build trust, be real with your friends and make sure you are bringing the best out of others, in that way, your own help is on the way! Be the model friend you desire to see in others. What can your friends say about your life today? Are you the bad egg in the basket of others? You might need to first be the change you desire to see in others.

In building friendship, we must be intentional in making sure we extend the love and affection we want to receive into others.

In the same vein, invest in your friendship. Doing friendship with the future in view will change a lot of things about how you treat your friends today. if you realize that, it is your friends that will stay with you in times of trouble and challenges, then you will consciously and intentionally teach them the art of comfort, motivation and most importantly the love of God. if your friends are well rooted in the love of God and carry God in all they do, it will be easier for them to stand with you in times of need. What do you need to start doing with your friends today? Read quality books together. Do bible character study together! Get to know each other better, and you will be glad you did so!

Doing friendship with the future in view will change a lot of things about how you treat your friends today.

Furthermore, since we believe everything in life is spiritual, then our friendship must also be spiritual. Do you pray about your friends? when last did you carry the issues in the life of your best friend to God in prayer? Remember, only those that are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. the leading of the Spirit also includes your friendship. If God is calling your attention to anything in the life of that friend, you need to pay attention to it. At times, God might ask us to leave a friend, in fact release us from all friendship ties for a season just because He can see ahead of us and He knows what we need for every season. Can you lay down your friends on the altar of sacrifice? Do you love God that much?

At times, God might ask us to leave a friend, in fact release us from all friendship ties for a season just because He can see ahead of us and He knows what we need for every season.

Also, we all go through difficult times and seasons when nothing seems to be working, in those moments, we need friends that will believe in us and keep assuring us that all will be well, friends that will hold our hands (here on earth) just as God is holding our hands (from heaven). You can build up your friends to become your burden bearers. At that stage, you both have trained yourselves and grown so much together so much that you bear each other’s burdens and challenges. In times like that, your friend won’t watch you enter any ditch or suffer any harm. It is all about how you build your friends and what value you place on that relationship! So, if I may ask, how many of your friends today can stand with you through the situations of life? how many of your friends seems to be unaffected and unmoved to jealousy about all that God is doing in and through your life? can this your friend be your stepping stone into greater heights?

we need friends that will believe in us and keep assuring us that all will be well, friends that will hold our hands (here on earth) just as God is holding our hands (from heaven).

Finally, friendship is not a MUST DO. At least, there are people on earth that don’t really do well with friends and yet they are doing fine in life. But if you must have friends, then make sure you have the right set of friends. That you are lonely doesn’t mean you should go for the wrong friends. If there are no good friends yet in your life, don’t bow into wrong friendship, rather, wait till the right friends walk into your life and then start to build. If the right friends are not here yet, keep working on yourself and remember that Holy Spirit is your best friend. Shalom!

I believe you have learnt a lot from this episode, we’re always looking forward to getting back from you. Drop your comments and also your email address so as to be notified once we drop a new post. Ask your questions as well through the comment section. I’m glad to inform you that we are not done with this series on friendship yet! Anticipate another powerful episode coming up on Monday. Thanks for choosing The Fire Place!