Friendship

05 Jun Friendship

Recently I was able to get in touch with someone who was one of my best friend’s at boarding school. I haven’t seen her for many years now, but she was a really GOOD FRIEND to me when I was younger. Her name is Claire. And here’s a photo she sent me yesterday. I’m fourteen and fond of hats!

Friends are so important but particularly if you’re at boarding school. Imagine being in school with people all day and weekends, sharing all your mealtimes together, even being in the same dormitory-and you don’t get on? Wouldn’t that would be a disaster!! Fortunately even though I wasn’t a Christian then, God really helped me by giving me good friends. Claire was in fact a Christian but I didn’t know it at the time and God made sure we were in the same dorm. But more of that later. 

This is an important question guys. Choose your friends wisely because they influence us and we can spend a lot of time with them.

There’s a song called ‘What a friend we have in Jesus’ and it’s so true. Jesus is not just our Saviour but He wants to be a friend to us-a close one at that. I think that’s fantastic-to have a friend in Jesus.

It’s a powerful statement to make but we do. You have a friend that cares about you so much he was willing to die for you.

Our friend Jesus also just happens to be the Son of God-so he’s pretty powerful!

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.   Matthew 28 vs. 18

And you know how friends can sometimes let us down-Jesus never does because He doesn’t change over time.

The next image lists some qualities of a good friend but is there anything missing from the list? What would you add to it?

I would add that a good friend draws you closer to God.

Remember the friend I mentioned at the start of the Blog, Claire? That’s exactly what she did. 

When I was 15 she invited me to stay with her and her family for a week and during that time I went to my first ever Christian Youth meeting. I didn’t really know much about Jesus at the time but I remember being so touched by the presence of God at this meeting and going forward for prayer. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget. A best friend helped introduce me to the GREATEST BEST FRIEND of all-JESUS!

This next clip features a Hillsong Youth Meeting and I wonder if there are any teenagers like Claire in it who have taken along their friends who know nothing about Jesus but are about to find out. The song is actually about friendship.

Lockdown is coming to an end but this a useful link on developing friendships from afar:

https://fervr.net/teen-life/how-to-encourage-a-friend-when-you-cant-see-them-in-person

And some more thoughts on friendship from The Elevation Youth Team.

BEST FRIENDS’ MOMENTS

Right then, introducing Naomi who shares some powerful thoughts on FRIENDSHIP in this week’s Team Talk.

Here’s some ideas for online games you can play with your FAMILY and FRIENDS – where age appropriate.

How could you be a better friend to someone today? And more importantly how could you develop your friendship with Jesus?

Have a great week. Go and be a blessing to your friends.

Claire and the VCC Youth Team