Hey girl, we're your hosts Iz
and Zi and welcome or welcome back to the Forever God Girl podcast.
In today's episode we will talk about friendships.
In Proverbs 18 verse 24 it says,
A man of many companions may come to ruin,
But there is one friend who sticks closer than a brother.
That's Jesus Christ!
First thing we need to talk about is Godly friendships.
Why are Godly friendships important?
Well, think about it this way.
Since we are followers of Christ, right?
We also need Godly friends or followers of Christ so that they can help us in our walk
with Jesus.
Godly friendships and fellowship is what brings us closer to Jesus.
Jesus wants us to have friends and fellowship, which is why he tells us to be good friends
throughout the scripture.
If you ever want to see a book that has a lot to talk about on friendships, go to Proverbs
because it has so many amazing, encouraging, instructional scriptures.
Jesus had many friends on earth and he was the best example on how to be a good Godly
friend.
Like we earlier said, a Godly friend is someone who is striving to go deeper in their relationship
with Jesus.
And while they're trying to go deeper in their relationship with Jesus, they'll help
you to grow deeper in your relationship with Jesus.
And a Godly friend also exhibits the fruit of the spirit.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.
But now we have to look at what an ungodly friend is like.
Oh boy.
But first, before we look at that, I do want to read the scripture Proverbs 22 verses 24
through 25.
It says, Do not associate with a man given to anger, or go along with a hot tempered
man, or you will learn his undisciplined ways and you yourself will get yourself trapped
in a situation from which it is hard to escape.
This scripture is telling us to not associate ourselves with people we know who need to
be worked on by the Holy Spirit, because then we will get their principles.
It's like the scripture says, Bad company ruins good morals.
And ungodly friends can make us feel all sorts of ways.
For example, sometimes ungodly friends will make us feel weird or make us feel like we
can't, we don't have a voice to say what we want to do or what we want to say or what
we want to wear, because if we do what we want to do or be ourselves, we'll be ostracized.
Exactly.
And sometimes it pushes us to go against all of our Christian morals.
When we get a conviction from the Holy Spirit, we'll try to quiet it by what we think other
people say we should do.
But how do I go about school when everybody has their own friend group?
How do I make mine?
Well, we have to analyze the room carefully, because if we choose the wrong friends, we
can go down the wrong path, as we said.
You make good friends by looking in the right places.
Think about this way.
WWJD.
What would Jesus do?
Sometimes in school, it's hard to find people who want to be vocal about their faith, or
sometimes people are too scared to be vocal about their faith.
When we make the first step, we can help to inspire.
Also, another great place to find Christian friends is at church.
Yes.
That's when they're open, and also they can be real with you too.
Also, it gets very easy to make friends at church a lot of the time, because what the
youth pastors will do and the teachers will do is they'll put different people in a group.
And I've made friends that way, especially when it was difficult for me to make friends.
The youth pastors came in handy.
And also, not only that, you have one thing in common, your faith.
Faith brings us together in fellowship to help us grow closer to the Lord.
We cannot stress that enough.
So what about my school friends?
Well, in Colossians 3, 12, through 14, it says, put on then as God's chosen ones, holy
and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing
with one another, and if one has a complaint against one another, forgiving each other,
as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive.
And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
When we show love to other people, then we will draw them to God.
And don't expect other people to always want to be a friend because you're nice, because
some people are just mean for no reason, but expect God to do his work in their lives and
in your lives as well.
And trust that God will bring you the right friends because he ultimately knows everything
about everyone and who is going to help each other.
But what happens when a friend decides that they don't want to be your friend anymore?
Well, this is a hard lesson that both of us have had to go through, right, Zi?
Yep.
Yeah.
But something that I learned through that season is friends sometimes are just here for
a season.
Sometimes we don't have friends for our whole lives and sometimes they're just childhood
friends.
But remember this, rejection is protection and rejection is also redirection.
Sometimes God takes away friends for a season so that we can realize that he is our best
friend.
And we feel complete and whole in him.
See Jesus is our friend who sticks closer than a brother like we read in Proverbs 18
24 earlier.
He wants us to know that because when we know that our relationship with him can deepen.
And we can have the confidence to share Christ because then Christ is our center.
We are not trying to please people, but we are trying to please the Lord.
In Galatians chapter one verse 10, it says, 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.
This is a scripture that we all need because as humans we all face the trials of trying
to fit in.
But bottom line, we are not working to please people, we're working to please God.
And Jesus will be our forever friend because he lives in our heart.
He's in us with us and all around us.
And the scripture says, I am with you to the end of the age.
Now it's time for a special segment with Iz and Zi.
Okay Zi, for our question today, it is what number of Jesus' disciples, also known as
his closest friends?
12.
And let's try to figure out their names now.
Okay, so there was Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, also known as Nathaniel.
There was also Thomas.
There was also Thaddeus.
Yes.
There was also John, also known as Judas as well.
Simon the zealot.
Right.
Judas Iscariot.
Mmhmm.
James the son of Alphaeus.
Alphaeus.
Yes.
Matthew.
You didn't say Matthew.
Oh.
You didn't say Matthew yet.
So in total we said Peter, James, John, Andrew, Philip, Judas Iscariot, Matthew, Thomas,
James the son of Alphaeus because there was a second James.
Bartholomew, Judas Thaddeus, and Simon the zealot.
Exactly.
Okay, that was a good segment, but now you have to end off this episode.
So if you don't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, then we invite you to give
your heart to the Lord today.
Go to Romans 10, 9 through 10.
It says that if you confess what your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that
God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation.
If you said this prayer with sincerity, you are saved and now have eternal life with Jesus.
You are saved from all your sins, past, present, and future sins you may commit.
Now this truth is not a pre-past sin anytime.
Instead Jesus gives you power over all wrong choices and empowers you to spread the gospel
to others.
You are saved forever and your name is written in the book of life.
Did you just give your life to Jesus?
If you did, give yourself a pat on the back and tell as many people as you can.
Anyways, thank you guys so much for listening to this podcast episode.
We hope it helped you and we hope that you learned something.
And remember, trust God and he will lead you to where you ought to be.
See you next time.
Bye.
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