Hey Forever GodGirl, I'm your host, Iz, and
welcome or welcome back to the Forever GodGirl
Podcast. In today's episode, we're gonna talk
about friendship breakups and boundaries. So
many times we hear people talk about finding
godly friends and why it's important to have
godly friends. But what happens when we found
them, yet we're still drifting apart? Well firstly,
it doesn't mean that those people are bad friends,
and it doesn't mean that you are fake or immature.
Sometimes the assignment and purpose of that
friendship is just finished. Okay, we have to
look at this from a different perspective. Pruning.
Pruning is positive. In John 15, God prunes the
branches that are bearing fruit so that they
can bear more fruit. Sometimes a friendship has
to be pruned so that you can both grow in the
directions God is calling you. So if God is calling
you to something and calling your friend to something
else, sometimes that friction can be uncomfortable.
And guess what? That's okay. We have to trust
God because he knows who needs us and who we
need at different times. A great example from
the Bible is Paul and Barnabas the versus Paul and
Silas. If we go to Acts chapter 15, verses 36
through 40, it says, Paul and Barnabas separate.
After some time, Paul said to Barnabas, let's
go back and visit each city where we previously
preached the word of the Lord to see how the
new believers are doing. Barnabas agreed and
wanted to take along John Mark. But Paul disagreed
strongly since John Mark had deserted them in
Pamphylia and had not continued with them in
their work. Not only did Paul strongly disagree,
other versions say that Paul and Barnabas had
a sharp disagreement. So what did they do? They
separated from each other. Barnabas took John
Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus, while Paul
chose Silas, and as he left, the believers entrusted
him to the Lord's gracious care. He traveled
throughout Syria and Cecilia. strengthening the
churches there. Okay, great story, but what does
this even have to do with the episode? Well listen,
Paul and Barnabas were great friends until a
disagreement had them go in separate directions.
The thing to remember is neither of them were
wrong, but God had different assignments for
the both of them. And then, instead of seeing
Paul and Barnabas, we see Paul and Silas, who
both had the same mission and were going in the
same direction. Now what does this mean for us?
Okay, it means I'm gonna block this person, unfollow
this person, and avoid this person in the hallways
at school. Uh, no, that's not what we're gonna
do. Because we still appreciate the different
friendships we had at different seasons. Paul
never cut off Barnabas, but he did move from
an encouraging relationship to a partner in purpose.
For even more context, when Paul first became
a Christian, guess who welcomed him into the
church and allowed him to go on missions and
encouraged him? Barnabas. But guess who now became
his partner? Silas. Sometimes we have friends
who are like a hype man. They cheer for us, help
us grow, and help us get started. But as we grow,
we need a partner. Someone who isn't just cheering
from the sidelines, but is actually on the field
playing the game with you. It's okay to say thank
you to the hype man while you go find your teammate.
But now let's look at the Jesus example. Circles
of intimacy. See, Jesus loved everyone, but he
had his three, his 12, and the 72. He only let
three people, Peter, James, and John, into his
most intimate moments. And not all 72 of his
followers were at the Last Supper. You have permission
to move someone from your inner circle to your
outer circle. as long as we're doing it lovingly
and kindly, and we're forgiving any hard feelings.
Which leads me into the next point sometimes
we have to bless and release. No ghosting, just
grace. We don't need a dramatic closure or a
bunch of drama concerning the relationship, but
just pray for the person more than you talk about
or to them. And how are we gonna do this? shifting
from hanging out to checking in. Decrease the
frequency, but keep the kindness. A simple prayer
for situations like this is, Lord, thank you
for the role that they played in my story. Bless
them in their next chapter as I walk into mine.
In Jesus' name, amen. Now it's time for our special
segment. In today's special segment, you know
it, we got some hot takes. And these ones are
hot. First hot take is, can Christians ghost
people? Now if you don't know what ghosting is
it's basically when you stop talking to someone
abruptly and they don't know what happens to
you after that But 50 % said yeah, sometimes
it's necessary 50 % also said only if needed
but don't make it a habit and then 0 % said no,
it's not godly What do you think though next
hot take is resting the same as being lazy? 40
% said no, rest is important, and 60 % said it
depends what you're doing while you're resting.
0 % said yeah, get up and work, last one of the
day, lots of sermon notes equals spiritual maturity,
right? 25 % said no, revelation without application
is dead. 25 % said yes, if you don't write it
down, you'll forget. And then 50 % said nah,
are you actually gonna read it again? But I really
wanna know. What is your opinion on these hot
takes if you didn't get a chance to vote? Make
sure you're following us on our Instagram at
forever god girl podcast So that you can be a
part of the polls and remember to ask your parent
or legal guardian for permission first That was
an amazing special segment, but now it's time
to talk about something more important and more
exciting salvation Here is a word from Zi So
if you have a personal relationship with Jesus
Christ then this message will help you. But if
you don't have a personal relationship with Jesus
Christ, I invite you to give your heart to the
Lord today. To receive him into your heart, go
to Romans 10, 9 -10. It says, If you confess
with 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. This truth is not a free pass to sin
any time. Instead, Jesus gives you power over
all wrong choices and empowers you to spread
the gospel to others. You are saved and your
name is written in the Book of Life. Did you
just give your life to Jesus? Because if you
did give yourself a pat on the back, we are so
godly proud of you. Thank you so much for listening
to this podcast episode. We trust that it helped
you and that you learned something. And remember
God isn't just the author of your arrivals. He's
the author of your departures too. If he's shifting
your circle, it's only because he's making room
for what's next. You are loved, you are seen,
and you are never walking alone. That's how you
help us spread the good news. See you next time.
Bye!!!