I am a firm believer in the statement that everybody needs somebody. We all need God, every second of everyday, but God also wants us to be in fellowship with one another. Community is a beautiful thing. Life is hard, and we will have seasons where we need to be alone, but we shouldn’t have to do all of life alone. Not when there is an entire body of Christ, we need community; loneliness is a silent killer.
Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
We are at a time in our lives where building relationships and being around the right people is very important to us. Our friend groups get smaller and closer as we grow up, many of us have at least three friends we know we can count on and call on no matter what. We need people in our lives that we can grow with, that we can learn from. We need people who will pick us up when we are down, and give what we need not always what we want, and we are here to do the same for them. We are here to live in community with our brothers and sisters in Christ, we are not doing anyone any good by staying isolated from the world.
Sometimes we think we don’t need anyone to help us, we have God and that’s it. But God places people in our lives for a reason, they may not always stay but for the time being they are there because we need them, they need us, or we need each other.
1 Samuel 18;1-5 (extended passage 1 Samuel 18-20)
As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father's house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants.
David and Jonathan were the best of friends, the bible says they became one soul. They would keep this friendship for the remainder of their lives. These men risked their lives for one another and loved each other unconditionally. Their friendship was built on trust and obedience to God. A friendship like David and Jonathan’s is truly a gift from God. We don’t see these types of friendships as much anymore. Our generation has developed this attitude, that we don’t need anyone we can do everything on our own. We close ourselves off from one another in an attempt to get ahead or out of fear of getting hurt. We’ve covered up our feelings and let no one in, and we wonder why everyone is so angry all the time. We love to be needed, we just don’t like needing others.
We all need that one person that we can just pour our hearts out to and not feel judged. Even if it’s just one person that God has sent to us. We have to learn to trust one another. I think many times in our teenage years, we have had so many friends who have come and gone, we don’t know who’s real and who’s fake anymore.. We’ve had friends who have turned on us, hurt us, or just completely walked out of our lives. Due to this we lose faith in close friendships and start to avoid them. We are cordial with people but we will never call them friends we call the acquaintances. We might not have found a friend like Jonathan or David but we can ask God to send them to us, or lead us to them. Building friendships is very important; these are the people we do life with, the people we are most vulnerable with. God honors friendships, and there’s nothing wrong with needing people. We all need someone. We can use David and Jonathan’s relationship as an example of what our friendships should look like. How we should treat our friends and the type of people we should be surrounded by.
Reflection
- Who is your David or Jonathan, in your life?
- Do you think that you need people or can you do life on your own?
- Why do you think, we as a generation have such a hard time being vulnerable with one another?
Prayer Time
Today, pray for your friends. Pray for the ones that are in your life, the one that are no longer in your life, and the ones that are on their way. Ask God to help you to be a better friend, and be open to friendships. Openly talk to Him. Remember that prayer is just a conversation with God.
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