Make Friends (Part 2)
We all need friends! They often provide the shock absorbers to cushion the effects of the many bumps of life. If we do not make conscious efforts to make new friends as we pass through life, we will soon find ourselves left alone. We often say and know to be true that one enemy is too many but a hundred friends are too few.
We find in scripture a friendship that stood the test of all time. David and Jonathan were both youths. Jonathan had had the privilege of tasting the pleasures of the palace, but David was just a shepherd boy who divine providence had just ushered into the presence of the king. In spite of their different backgrounds, the two youths struck a note of profound friendship. The Bible says, “…the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.”
The truth is, there is no greater possession than a good and faithful friend. A true friend will assist you readily, advise you justly, defend you courageously, take everything patiently and continue to be a friend. And that was precisely what Jonathan did for David. When his own father sought to kill him, Jonathan stood as a true friend and protected David’s interest without dishonouring his father. In a friend, because someone is looking for you as their friend:’ the question is: if you were another person would you like to be your own friend?
- Cultivate the habit of speaking to and smiling at people. There is nothing as nice as a cheerful word of greeting.
- Cultivate the habit of calling people by name. The sweetest music to anyone’s ear is the sound of his own name.
- Be cordial. Speak and act as if everything you do were a real pleasure.
- Be generous with praise and cautious with criticism.
- Be considerate of the feelings of others, it will be appreciated.
- Be thoughtful of the opinions of others
- Be alert to give service. What counts most in life is what we do for others!
Watch your company! One wrong association can destroy the good relationships you have built over time. “Evil company corrupts good habits” (1 Corinthians 15:33). The Bible also says in Psalms 1:1, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful…” As it has been said, “Friendship cemented together with sin does not hold.”
Remember, God intends that you grow and prosper in your relationships, so avoid ungodly relationships.
