I will commit to accountability relationships with one to two other women.
2 Timothy 2:22 (NLT)
Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.
Lord God, I thank you that you’ve created us for friendship. Thank you that your design is for us is to not go through life alone. You long for us to have companionship with those who call upon you with a pure heart.
So God, we ask for you to provide us with those types of friendships. Please Lord, have the women you’ve appointed boldly pursue our hearts for authentic friendships.
God, Give us the courage to reach out, beyond our own insecurities.
Help us get creative in the ways we go about finding friends and cultivating lasting relationships.
God, in our pursuit of friendships, I pray you give us wisdom and discernment. Cause us to flee from those who might cause us to stumble. Bring us into friendships with those who will hold us accountable in the mission of right living, faithfulness, love, and peace.
In the Strong Name of Jesus, Amen.
It was a question I didn’t see coming.
Well, who are your friends? Who do you spend time with?
I could feel the warm flush of embarrassment take over my face. How could I answer this question authentically and still save face? I couldn’t really, so I fumbled out a few garbled words in a feeble attempt to explain my situation. The reality is that I don’t really have a group of friends, yet. It’s more like pockets of friendships that are still forming not even two years after moving to this new place. There are definitely precious women God has brought into my life, and I see the potential of deep and lasting friendships . . . but making friends takes time.
So what do we do with this call from God to enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with a pure heart?
Well, I think we start by first admitting that it’s a good call meant for our benefit. It also is a call that requires a dedicated effort on our part. For the majority of us, godly friendships don’t just come knocking on our door. We have to make ourselves available to cultivate friendships and be willing to risk a rejection by pursuing time together again and again.
Pure in heart companions come in many forms and they are all equally valuable.
So for some of us, we’ll find the connection points by going to Bible study, even if the “the study” isn’t something we’d choose to do on our own. It may look like setting aside a time each week for connection, not always with a new face but giving up casting the net wide to focus on a few. That’s really the secret to cultivating accountability friendships that are more than surface deep. Your connecting points have to be more than once a month to really get to know each other.
I have to confess that one of the reasons I haven’t felt the need to cultivate many “in real life” friendships is because of the way I’m so tightly connected to women around the country. Do you feel this way too? Using Voxer, along with texting and social media, enables me to stay tied to the hearts of dear sisters, even if we never get to walk in the park side-by-side together. These kinds of friendships are incredibly valuable for accountability, prayer, and encouragement, but there’s nothing like sharing a meal together with friends who live only a town away. Both are part of God’s plans for us to find the kinds of women we can build soul-filling, life-changing accountability relationships with.
How can you embrace both real life and online connections in a way that builds a community of godly companionship in your life?
To continue this journey of living brave and inviting the next generation to join you in the journey, get a copy of Brave Together: A Conversation Starter for Cultivating Biblical Mentoring Relationships.
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