Friendship or Fellowship?
He stated that God created friendship for our comfort. But he created fellowship for our true growth. Wow...deep stuff, and I'm thinking very true!
We all need friends....people with whom we can laugh and cry and play. Friends are for fun and friends are to minister to one another in times of need. I'm so thankful that I've been blessed with a few true friends. I enjoy them, and I think they enjoy me! Friends are good, and friends are good for my comfort.
But we also need fellowship. And I'm realizing as I've been thinking this through that I have far fewer people in my life with whom I'm in fellowship. Besides Carla, I won't name them here. But these are the people who are not only friends, and not just friendly. They're the ones who seek me out when I'm not going down the right path. And they're the ones who ask me to show them the same things. They're the ones that inspire me to grow up, and the ones who will let me inspire them to the same. They're the ones who don't just comfort me when I'm afflicted, but afflict me when I'm comfortable and vice-versa!
So I'm thankful for my friends, for sure! But I'm especially thankful for my fellowship partners...those that help me to be a man more like Jesus!!!
9 comments:
This is indeed thought provoking and inspiring. Makes me think of a sermon we had of living your life worthy of a Gospel explanation. :-)
I miss our times together brother. Be blessed.
Shanin...miss you guys!
Jeff...indeed brother. Hope you're well!
I have found that I have a lot more friends than I do fellowshipers. I guess thats do to my age. Of course I have my family, but not really anyone my age.
Raylen...it took me till I was well into adulthood to find them. You just stay true to who you are and eventually, you'll find people who will honestly challenge and inspire you to be all God created you to be, besides your family.
And I have WAY more friends than I do fellowshipers. It's all good.
Alright, I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't the only one.
Indeed you are not, Raylen. But I would encourage you as you continue to grow and mature to surround yourself with people like your parents (and I don't mean tall people!) But you need to seek out people who will love you so much that they will sometimes say things you don't want to hear so that you can become a better person. And if they're truly that kind of person, they'll want to hear the same admonitions from you. (look it up!)
Admonitions: an act of admonishing;
counsel, advice, or caution;
a gentle reproof;
a warning or reproof given by ecclesiastical authority.
(So basically they want you to give them the right advice just lie you want them to do for you.)
So I'm gonna paint a word picture with a question at the end. Let's say - hypothetically of course - that you have a strong personality and are therefore intimidating to most people. Add in a penchant for tunnel vision and a smattering of intelligence (just enough to also be intimidating). Finally, let's say that you've always been the "good" one, the one everyone thinks has it all together - even as a kid. How do you then attract people willing to get beyond the surface? And once they get there, how do you encourage them to call you on your "crap," i.e. fellowship?
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