{"id":5955,"date":"2022-07-17T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-17T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5955"},"modified":"2022-05-03T20:54:50","modified_gmt":"2022-05-04T01:54:50","slug":"best-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5955","title":{"rendered":"Best Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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It Is Good to Be Thankful: Appreciation makes the world a better place\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friends are important. Unfortunately, we are fast becoming a friendless society. Today\u2019s social climate does not lend itself to building friendships. In fact, our world is moving towards social isolation. We can work at home, shop online, and have products delivered to our door. We can bank from a computer and get our entertainment on cable. With so little human interaction, building friendships is challenging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet God created us to be relational. The Father, Son, and Spirit are relational and they invite us into that relationship with them. God did not create us to be alone. In the beginning, God said let us make man in our image (Genesis 1:26). Then God said it wasn\u2019t good for man to be alone, so He made him a companion (Genesis 2:18).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bible is full of relational concepts. In fact, Ecclesiastes 4:10 says, \u201cPity the man without friends.\u201d Every time scriptures say to do this or that to one another\u2014it\u2019s talking about building relationships with other people. We are told to love, honor, forgive, accept, serve, pray, and encourage one another. Plus much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While on earth, Jesus showed love for all His disciples, but He had a closer relationship with John (John 21:20, John 19:26). So there is definitely nothing wrong with having best friends. Best friends stick closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24). They know us and love us anyway. They offer wise counsel. Even if they have to tell us something we don\u2019t want to hear, it\u2019s a little easier because we know they have our best interests at heart. Close friends encourage and strengthen us. They form a bond that is not easily broken (Ecclesiastes 4:8-12). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It takes a concentrated effort to have close friends (Proverbs 18:24). We are busy people and these friendships are time consuming. Although they can bring happiness, they can also bring heartache. Having friendships can make us vulnerable. Sometimes friendships end and it can leave a hole in our hearts. However, a good friendship is time well spent and a risk worth taking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m so thankful for the close friends I have. They know who they are! They don\u2019t think less of me when I make mistakes. They accept me the way I am. They are loyal. They don\u2019t betray a confidence and trust me in the same way. They lift me up when I\u2019m down. They laugh at my quips and comfort me when I cry. They don\u2019t necessarily agree with everything I say but try to understand my point of view. When I see their names on my caller ID it makes me smile. Being with them fills me with joy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did I mention that I\u2019m thankful for my close friends? I am! They make me want to be a better person.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

*****<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord..<\/em>.\u201d ~ Psalms 92:1 (KJV)<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It Is Good to Be Thankful: Appreciation makes the world a better place\u2026 Friends are important. Unfortunately, we are fast becoming a friendless society. Today\u2019s social climate does not lend itself to building friendships. In fact, our world is moving … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5955"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5955\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}