You know God has given us so many wonderful gifts! I want to share this time with you and let you know what God has been laying on my heart over the last year.
Friendships are wonderful gifts to our lives straight from God. There are several references to friendship in the Bible. I think about the friendship of David and Jonathan described in 1 Samuel, chapter 18. I’ve always loved the story of Jonathan and David’s friendship and recently when I read in 1 Samuel that part about their “souls” got to me. Those chapters in Samuel are great reading. It says “the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David.” Jonathan and David had a great love and respect for each other. I began thinking about my relationships and friendships with other Christian sisters in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 13 is considered one of the great “Jewels of Scripture.” For its sheer beauty and moral force, it has been admired by believers through the ages. Paul’s intent is to draw the Corinthians away from questions of who is wiser, more spiritual or more important. Love is the point! Without love, no other gift matters.
Love takes many forms, all active: patience, kindness, humility, unselfishness, forgiveness, holiness, protection, trust. The three impeccable Christian graces are faith and hope and love. But love reigns supreme.
Review the words used in this chapter, making special note of those that describe what love is and then what love is not. Over the coming weeks and months ask God to work in your life to build up loving characteristics.
I think the friendships between Christian sisters can be so much more than what the world can offer. Our hearts and souls belong to the Lord so we can have wonderful, encouraging, deep and meaningful relationships like the friendship of Jonathan and David.
In James 2:23 Abraham was called a friend of God. Image that, a friend of God, how blessed! We can be that too! What about Moses? Remember how God spoke to him? Exodus 33:11 says “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.“
Those Christian women in my life and who I’ve known over the years are some of the people who’ve encouraged me and motivated me the most. When it comes to our sisters in the Lord, friendship takes on a special quality. Friendship between Christians is especially sweet because of the bond of Christ. We are enhanced by those special friendships. Building those friendships is a wonderful way to encourage and lift others in the Lord.
Friends are one of the ways God takes care of us. We need all the things friendship entails from other human contact such as encouragement, companionship, love, honesty, loyalty, understanding, and so many more thins friendship offers. Our friendships with our sisters in the Lord are like recipes of goodness for us. They bake up something special. You may have heard that saying, “In the cookies of life, friends are the chocolate chips”. Friends are that sweet extra in life and even sweeter is the friendship among believers in Christ. Why is a recipe for friendship with our sisters in the Lord so important? Let’s check out the ingredients and see what they do.
The items needed are the following: Shortening, Sugar, Eggs, Vanilla, Flour, Baking Soda, Salt, Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips, Nuts.
Sisters in the Lord Friendship Recipe:
Shortening- Provides texture. Our friendship with our sisters in the Lord can add much depth and texture to our lives. We blend together as a part of the family of God. We talk with one another, that’s not a bad thing. We talk things over. It’s one of those good things. When we don’t talk and share, there’s something missing from our lives. Talking about things out loud with our sisters helps us to cope.
Sugar- Adds sweetness. Our fellowship with our sisters in the Lord adds such a sweet taste to our lives. If we didn’t have sugar in our cookies, we’d sure miss it. The same is true with our friendship with our sisters in the Lord. We can’t leave it out of our lives, just as we need to include each other in our lives. We can show sweetness to one another and you know what that shows, it shows love!
Eggs- Holds ingredients together. I’ve had many sisters in the Lord that seem to have such strength. So many Christian women I’ve known and met over the years have had some real struggles and heartache in their lives. I always think that mine seem so small and trivial when I see what some other women go through. Sisters in the Lord are someone to lean on. We are held together by fellowship with them. We are stronger because of them, their prayers, and their love in the Lord. We have a special bond in Christ.
Vanilla- Adds flavor. Sister add that flavor we need. They give us that extra sensation. Without friends and fellowship we become kind of bland. Just like vanilla doesn’t taste good by itself, we can’t do all that God wants us to do by ourselves. We need each other.
Flour- Adds substance. One of the things I love about my sisters in the Lord is that they are real. I need some real friends to keep me grounded. Have you ever been around superficial people? It makes me uncomfortable to be around people like that. I need friends to be real and genuine and that’s what other sisters in the Lord are to me. We need the substance a sister in the Lord can add. They give us many things by the way the mentor us when we don’t even know it. Their shared testimonies and way they live their lives has an impact on us. I pray each of you has women in your life that have shown you how a Godly woman lives so that you may know how to live, search the scriptures, ask God for help, ask each other for help, it‘s ok to do.
Baking Soda- Leavens. Leavening agents in baking helps to lighten the dough. Friendships with our sisters in the Lord lightens our burdens through their prayers and encouragement. One thing that all of our sisters in the Lord have in common is that they know the Lord. They have been saved by the power of Christ’s blood. Isn’t it great that our sisters in the Lord are all in one family? We all have our Heavenly Father in common and that makes our sister relationships special. It lightens our load, our concerns, it gives us encouragement.
Salt- Enhances flavor. We know that friendships add flavor and just when we need it, they help improve the tastefulness and quality of our lives. Friends are the type of people that know just what we are going through and are there when we need them. I love those sisters in the Lord that inspire. They make us want to do more, do better, and sometimes just get involved in something. Sometimes it’s not by what they say but what they do. It might not even be an inspiration to do something spiritual. It just might be by how they are organized or even how they keep their house.
Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips- The kind of chocolate chips we normally add to our cookies is semi sweet. Our sisters in the Lord tell us what they feel and think and that’s okay. They can be honest and truthful with us. Proverbs 27:17 says “iron sharpens iron and one man sharpens another.” Praise the Lord! I love it when my sisters in the Lord encourage me. I, like everyone else have days that I’m down and there’s nothing better than when a friend and sister in the Lord comes along and cheers me up, perhaps gives me a pep talk, and brings me that encouragement that I am so in need of.
Nuts- Optional, just a little craziness in a sister in the Lord is great! Well, I have some sisters that are just like that. It is so important that our friends bring some laughter and a little humor into our lives. I know some sisters in the Lord that just make me laughter and sometimes we just need that laughter so much. Sometime that little bit of zaniness in our sisters can be just the ingredient we need. I think part of it has to do with the joy in their hearts. The Lord gives us that joy and sometimes I think it bubbles out of some people more than others. I love being around people like that, don’t you? Especially my sisters in the Lord. I also love the fact that they allow me to be a little nutty myself.
So, just like David and Jonathan’s friendship, we all need friendships like that. We don’t need to be a “Soul Sister”, we need to be good for each other’s souls. My sisters in the Lord encourage me and keep me grounded by their faith, friendships and love.
Friendships take a lot of time and effort to bake up but they are worth it when we sense that sweet aroma and special bond that they bring. Friends that have Jesus in common will have lasting relationships, not just here on earth, but will dwell with Christ together throughout eternity.
I wonder if I’m the type of friend that I should be to others, especially to my sisters in the Lord? Am I doing all those things that I should be doing, like lifting burdens, adding flavor, helping hold things together with my prayers, adding sweetness through encouragement and all those other things? I hope I can improve in those areas. How about you?
Is your life a good recipe for friendship? May God richly bless you as you bless your sisters in the Lord.
