True Friendship

Friendships are vital to the life of the Body of Christ. They warm the heart, rejoice in victories, and give empathy, understanding and support in trials. Friends are great to chat with and to have fun with but my best friend must be God and after that my husband. Nurturing the children comes next. These are the priority relationships that the Lord has given us, and these are the ones that we will have with us all of our lives. After God, husbands, and family comes the church. We are to extend hospitality to other believers, edifying each other. If our friendships are taking away from those priorities, then we have adjustments to make. Don’t let other people take precedence over your husband and children.
~Kim Brenneman, Large Family Logistics, pg91~

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True friendship is a sacred, important thing, and it happens when we drop down into that deeper level of who we are, when we cross over into the broken, fragile parts of ourselves. We have to give something up in order to get friendship like that. We have to give up our need to be perceived as perfect. We have to give up our ability to control what people think of us. We have to overcome the fear that when they see the depths of who we are, they’ll leave. But what we give up is nothing in comparison to what this kind of friendship gives to us.
~Shauna Niequist, Cold Tangerines, p50~

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Friendship is about risk. Love is about risk. If we can control it and manage it and manufacture it, then it’s something else, but if it’s really love, really friendship, it’s a little scary around the edges.
~Shauna Niequist, Cold Tangerines, p50~

One Reply to “True Friendship”

  1. Amen! This: “We have to give up our need to be perceived as perfect. We have to give up our ability to control what people think of us. We have to overcome the fear that when they see the depths of who we are, they’ll leave. ”

    I’ve been through that and while it was hard to walk that path, I’m glad our Heavenly Father showed me that all I need to do in life was please Him. It was hard giving up that control of what people might think of me… for the choices I have chosen to make, for the way I support and love my family, for making God the most important in my life, for choosing to honor and respect my parents etc….. I lost a lot along the way but I gained so much more!! And I am far more free than I had been previously when I lived in fear of man and constantly worried about what others thought of me.

    I tried to find Shauna’s books at our library and they sadly don’t have them. 🙁 So, they’re on my Amazon wish list now! 🙂

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