“Most of us don’t need a psychiatric therapist as much as a friend to be silly with.”
- Robert Brault
There is something special about friendship isn't there? This week I have had the privilege of spending time with some of my best friends. They were in town for graduation, and chose to stay with us. As we sat around this weekend catching up on each other's lives, reminiscing on times spent together, laughing at good jokes, and venting about frustrations - it’s in moments like these that I cherish a good christian friend the most.
As the quote above says, I believe Christian friendship is like a medicine to your soul. It is something that strengthens your faith. It is something that sharpens your senses. It is something that challenges your flaws. Or as Solomon once said, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man can sharpen another” (Proverbs 27:17). Paul has even made the statement “bad company corrupts good morals.” (1 Corinthians 15:33). Well the opposite of that is also true - good company strengthens good morals.
The kind of people you surround yourself with - the friends that you have - will determine the kind of life you live. What kind of people do you find yourself surrounded by? Are they those who strengthen your faith in Jesus? Are they those who challenge you when you're in the wrong? Are they those who help you find God when you feel like He’s nowhere around? Every Christian needs good Christian friends. We need to surround ourselves with people who draw us closer to Jesus, not pull us further away. We need to surround ourselves with people who help us see the beauty of Jesus and not those who ridicule the life He called us to.
Find yourself a good Christian friend, and you will be a stronger, more grounded, and more faithful follower of Jesus because of it.
-Kolton Ballance