{"id":2051,"date":"2018-01-17T07:52:14","date_gmt":"2018-01-17T13:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/?p=2051"},"modified":"2018-01-16T15:59:24","modified_gmt":"2018-01-16T21:59:24","slug":"creating-friendships-that-last-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/2018\/01\/17\/creating-friendships-that-last-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating Friendships that Last"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a world bloated with quick fixes, instant gratification and social media profiles, it can be hard to know how to build\u2014and keep\u2014lasting friendships. And while we may want to portray a particular side of ourselves online, the truth is that we need friends who know us here and now, in the middle of our mess and our daily routines. And we need to be those types of friends, too.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Creating<\/a><\/p>\n

The secret to these kinds of friendships is actually pretty simple: You just have to show up.<\/strong><\/p>\nThe secret to friendship is actually pretty simple: You just have to show up. via @RELEVANT <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span>\n

The Scriptures calls us to draw near to Christ and to draw near to one another: \u201clet us draw near [to Christ] with a true heart in full assurance of faith,\u201d and \u201clet us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near\u201d (Hebrews 10:22, 24-25). As people of faith, we are called to live so that we are encouraging those around us toward love and good deeds. I think this comes most obviously and importantly through deep, meaningful friendship.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how to start\u2014and build\u2014friendships where we spur one another on to godly lives and where we reflect God\u2019s love to one another:<\/strong><\/p>\n

SHOW UP WITH A MEAL.<\/h2>\n

A friend doesn\u2019t have to be sick to need a meal. A new baby doesn\u2019t have to be born, and it doesn\u2019t have to be a holiday. Many times, we need a friend to care for us\u2014spiritually and practically\u2014in the midst of our everyday lives when things just feel like a little too much to handle. I\u2019ve taken meals to friends who are emotionally overwhelmed, to friends who have sick kids and to friends who just need a break from adulting. If you don\u2019t cook: Take a pizza. Breaking bread together\u2014sharing meals\u2014is something that marked the early church, and it\u2019s not hard to understand why. Sharing a meal together feeds both the body and the soul. It\u2019s not hard\u2014it just takes intentionality.<\/strong><\/p>\n

SHOW UP WITH PRAYER.<\/h2>\n

Hanging out and talking, watching a game together, laughing together\u2014these are good gifts of friendship. But being friends who follow Jesus also offers us the rich opportunity to pray not only for but with one another. I\u2019ve found that my times of prayer with friends have been some of the deepest and most steadying parts of our friendship.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Can it be awkward, especially if you\u2019ve never prayed together? Sure. But it can also crack open the opportunity for deeper relationship and trust. Maybe you can\u2019t help your friend practically, with her need or with his struggle. But you can pray with your friend, right there, asking God to meet that need and provide grace in the struggle.<\/strong> If you don\u2019t know what to pray, consider getting a copy of\u00a0The Book of Common Prayer<\/em>\u00a0and praying a liturgical prayer together. It doesn\u2019t have to be fancy. But when two or three of us get together in the name of Jesus, He\u2019s there with us (Matthew 18:19-20). When we pray, He hears us, and moves on our behalf.<\/p>\n

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Read the rest of the article here, at RELEVANT<\/a>!<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a world bloated with quick fixes, instant gratification and social media profiles, it can be hard to know how to build\u2014and keep\u2014lasting friendships. And while we may want to portray a particular side of ourselves online, the truth is that we need friends who know us here and now, in the middle of our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2052,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,21,5],"tags":[668,228,222,105,129,28],"class_list":["post-2051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-god","category-guest-post","category-life","tag-ann-swindell","tag-christian","tag-friendship-2","tag-relevant","tag-relevant-magazine","tag-writer","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/annswindell.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Screen-Shot-2018-01-16-at-3.54.22-PM.png?fit=763%2C427&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2051"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2053,"href":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051\/revisions\/2053"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annswindell.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}