It's Valentine's weekend and normally, it many times centers around the love we have, the love we are looking for, or maybe the love we lost but this year, I am especially grateful for friendships and for those who I call friends.
In this present climate we are living in, relationships matter. It's not like the relationships we have haven't mattered at any other time but even more so in this crazy period of time.
It is wearisome that we are almost going on a full year and many are becoming frayed, frustrated and fractured.
With the isolation many have felt because of the rules that have been put in place, even to the point of curfews have almost made it feel like we are relegated to me, myself and I.
So friendships are so important. Even if we only have one good friend, sometimes it is exactly what we need to help us.
So this Forward Friday celebrates the friendships we are blessed to share with some thoughts and reasons why friendship is so important to us.
If we had a photo album option in the post that we could use, we'd could have 1000's of pictures but these pictures represent just some of the friends that we are blessed to call friends.
As always, at the end of this post, we have some good medicine to take us into the weekend.
Here Are A Few Ideas That Make Friendships In My Opinion More Authentic.
1. They Accept Us, Including Our Flaws.
They don’t want to change us. In fact, true friendships mean they embrace everything about us, from our quirks and flaws to our best personality traits. That doesn’t mean they have to particularly like or agree with everything we say and do, but they don’t bash us or try to alter our personality, either.
It's a wonderful feeling to be able to breathe a big sigh of relief around them and we don't have to hedge our thoughts, comments or feelings when we're with them. That’s because in a sea of many people, we've found a friend(s) who sees the positive things about us even when we don’t see them in our self.
At the heart of life lie the relationships we have with other people.
The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.
2. They Stick With Us Through Both The Good And Bad Times.
In hard times, a true friend would never dream of leaving us in the shadows alone.
Instead, they offer to help us however they can, and are one of those who reach back to help us look for the light again.
Fake friends often bail on us because they only want to stick around when things are good, and it seemed like helping us through our problems was a burden for them.
They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.
Sometimes, people are lonely because we tend to build walls instead of bridges.
3. They Are Happy For Our Successes And Congratulate Us When We Reach A New Goal.
Fake friends feel jealous and contemptuous when we achieve something exciting in our life, but true friends will celebrate our accomplishments with us.
To know if we’re dealing with an authentic friendship or not, just notice who sticks around when we reach new heights in our life. Some people will try to tear us down, but the real friends in our life will feel happy for you.
Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust and hostility to evaporate.
We can improve our relationships with others by leaps and bounds if we become encouragers instead of critics.
4. You Feel Totally Comfortable Around Them, And They Probably Know Things About You That Many Others Don’t.
They know our best-kept secrets, our wildest dreams, and the unique quirks that we only share with people we feel most at ease around. Plus, they know all the details about our love life, our most cherished childhood memories, and all those embarrassing stories that we wouldn’t share with just anyone.
They want to know us to our core, not just on the surface. This separates a true friend from a fake one in many ways.
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.
5. They Tell Us The Truth About Things, Even If We May Not Want To Hear It.
Authentic friends may tell us a lot of what we want to hear; but they never sugarcoat anything just to appease us. They tell us the truth, even if it may hurt. And, if we're about authentic relationships, we learn to appreciate this, because not many other people in our life will cut to the chase and tell it like it is.
They tell us the truth not to cut us down, but to help us make the right choices in our life and become a better person because of this.
So, who's life can we be a part of this week to encourage them in their journey of life?
Maybe it's an email, text or call but why not do something to show our gratefulness for them being in our lives?
Sometimes, people are lonely because we tend to build walls instead of bridges.
6. They Make You Feel Happier And More Alive, Not Drained And Stressed.
After seeing them, we feel more rejuvenated, vibrant, and excited about life, not the opposite.
Authentic friendships will be a perfect energetic match between two people; otherwise, one person will be giving the other one life, which means that we may have an uneven side that doesn't reciprocate.
To know if we have a true friendship with someone, just pay attention to how we feel after meeting up with them.
A real friend will make us feel good about ourself and life, not depressed and uninspired.
We never know what good it can do to bring some life to the one who needs a pick me up most!!
Finally, Some Good Medicine
We were designed for connection, relationships so it is not unusual for so many of us to feel isolated, lonely, frustrated because we cannot connect like we would want to during this pandemic, virus, crazy world we are living in.
I believe that God designed us for relationships, and cares about those relationships so here are a few good medicine scriptures to encourage us this Valentine's weekend. I am certainly glad for Miss. Kelly but I am very thankful for the love of the friends I am blest to have in my life!
1 Thess 5:11 So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.
Colossians 3:13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
Ecclesiastes 4:9 Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed.
Ecclesiastes 4:10 If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.
Romans 12:10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.
May this remind us to cherish and nurture the friendships we have and learn to cultivate new ones in meaningful ways!
We're truly in this together!!
Dave
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