Friendships
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Why Is it Important to have Godly Friends?
Why Is it Important to have Godly Friends?
Why is it important to have Godly friends?
God will bring people into your life to encourage you and build you up in your faith.
The enemy will also bring people into your life to discourage you, destroy your calling and desire for God.
Discernment - a sense and an internal knowing what is from God and what is not from God.
- Discernment to know which friends are from God and which friends are from the enemy is on you.
1. The Gift of Discernment is sent by God and is AWAKENED IN YOU when your store Gods Word in your Heart.
Who you allow into your life is YOUR CHOICE.
Diagram for the INNER CIRCLE OF FRIENDSHIPS:
INNER CIRCLE -(1-5 PEOPLE)
FRIENDS & FAMILY
PEOPLE I KNOW & KNOW ME.
Your Inner Circle Influences You and needs to be Healthy and Centered Around God.
Gods Word warns us about BEING People Pleasers.
Galatians 1:10
Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Am I trying to Please People or Please God?
Do I Value What People Think About OR Do I VALUE WHAT GOD THINKS ABOUT ME.
Dividing Line
You can’t please God If your trying to please people all the time.
Seek To Please God not friends.
Don’t be a people pleaser Be a God pleaser.
Don’t let people pleasers in your inner circle.
REALTIONSHIPS
Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpens iron,
so one person sharpens another.
Gods Words compares friendship to the sharpening of iron.
Iron was sharpened by clashing iron against iron under fire and heat.
In my house I am in charge of sharping the knives in our kitchen.
How you do that is you run the knives against a solid iron brick or holders that already have iron in them to sharpen the edges.
How does that relate to friendship?
Faith grows in conversations. Faith filled person & Fear filled person.
Two Chairs Facing Each Other -
When a persons Mind, Heart and Soul loves God and one person is kinda serving God.
Areas of weakness, Areas of Strength. — Encouragement
Faith grows when you talk about your faith.
Do you talk about what you believe and why you believe it.
True friendships also talks about Fears
Even the struggle with sin.
Friendships have Intimacy - See Into Me.
AVATAR - “I SEE YOU”
Real Friends Will Challenge You In Your Faith
Real Friends Will Challenge You In Your Faith
Godly friends are honest
Real friendships will challenge you in your faith.
Do You Challenge Your Friends To Have Faith?
Do Your Friends Challenge You To Have Faith?
Proverbs 27:5-6
Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.
Wounds from a friend can be trusted,
but an enemy multiplies kisses.
True Love Is Telling The Truth
Friends tell each other their faults.
Morally.
Sometimes Correction can be hard to handle - Receive.
Correction happens to help us with direction
Plans fail for lack of counsel,
but with many advisers they succeed.
“Refuse good advice and watch your plans fail;
take good counsel and watch them succeed.” Message Bible
Accountability - The fact or condition of being accountably; Taking responsibility
Teachable - Able to learn by being taught.
Willingness to be Corrected - NOT offended.
Willing to work on areas I don’t see.
Do you tell your friends if they are not treating someone right that it is wrong?
CHAIRS -
BACK TO BACK CHAIRS.
Plans fail for a lack of counsel
If I don’t let anyone speak into my life.
Failure is coming.
2. False Friends won’t challenge you to have faith.
They will encourage you to act a fool. And won’t say anything when you do act a fool.
What You Want To Hear Not What You Need To Hear.
Get What They Can Out Of You.
PULL YOU DOWN TO THEIR LEVEL
1 Cor 15:33
Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
But don’t fool yourselves. Don’t let yourselves be poisoned by this anti-resurrection loose talk. “Bad company ruins good manners.” Message Bible
Bad company corrupts good character.
How do we know the difference? Character
People try to use charm to win you over.
God teaches us with discernment to look for Character
Look at their Character.
What words do they speak. - How do they treat people. - Do they live by the Word of God - How do they treat their family - Are they commited to school, sports, or their job - Are they commited to God
These are the types of questions you should ask if you are going to invite them to your inner circle.
Use Discernment In Picking Your Friends
Use Discernment In Picking Your Friends
People try to use charm to win you over.
Look for Character Not Charm.
Oh you no God? Be my friend so you can approve my sinful lifestyle.
They don’t say anything so I must be okay since they know God.
a. If you show me your friends ill show you your future.
CHAIR - PULLING AND PUSHING A PERSON
Pulling a person up is way harder.
Pushing a person off the chair is easier.
Proverbs 18:24
One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Friends Are Their For You In Hard Times
Friends Are Their For You In Hard Times
True friends will give an ear when someone needs to talk.
Listen to you - Discouraged, Depressed, Lonely.
You can depend on them and trust them.
Friends are always there for you when you are going through a hard time.
a. Those people who only want to be around you because your successful.
Fake friends just want what they can get from you.
We will never find them when you go through hard times.
If you show me your friends, ill show you your future.
STAY SHARP PROGRAM - WHO HAS FRIENDS THAT HAVE OFFERED YOU DRUGS?
Proverbs 17:17
A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for a time of adversity.
The Strength of a Friendship is built during times of trouble.
We were born to help each other. God gives us friends to get us through the bad times. - The difficult times.
Encouragement out of Discouragement. - Shake us out of emotional obsession
Friends will love at all times.
Love covers over mistakes and love builds someone up who is down.
Friends Pray Together.
Friends Read Gods Word Together.
You know you have found a friend after God if he wants to pray with you and study Gods Word with you.
Times of Trouble should make Friends go into Gods Word to FIND TRUTH TOGETHER!
Proverbs 13:20
Walk with the wise and become wise,
for a companion of fools suffers harm.
Become wise by walking with the wise;
hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces.
Whoever you decide to hang around is what you will become.
Whoever you decide to hang around is what you will become.
What you want to become will determine who you hangout with.
What you want to become will determine who you hangout with.
Who You Decide To Hang Out With Is One Of The Most Important Decisions You Will Make.
- Who I surround myself with surrounds me.
If I hangout with people who are lazy. I’ll probably be lazy. Not wanting to go to work. Not wanting to go to school. Suffering
Bad Food - Bad Health
1. Find someone wise.
a. For Me When I decided to give my life to Christ
I needed to find people who live for Christ.
Being a Pastor - I had to start hanging out with Pastors.
Find a mentor - someone who will pour the Word of God into you.
Pastor Darin is my Mentor. (My Inner Circle)
Ask Questions - About God, About Life. About THE Word of God.
Have Faith In God Above All Else