Intentional Living: Week Two

this week's lesson was on being an intentional friend.
i just loved this class, because part way through, we had an assignment.
i wanted for us all to take some time during class to go to the Bible on our own, and find the answers to some questions that i had come up with.
i got so emotional watching all these girls just studying and digging into God's Word!
i loved it!
it's what intentional living is all about!

anyways.
we started out by trying to find verses that describe how we need to treat each other.
so that was my first question.
How should I be treating people?

it might seem like a simple, and obvious question.
but i just always want to be growing and learning more about how i need to live my life!
i don't want to assume that i have it down, ya know?

try it! take some time right now and just push yourself a little bit.
maybe it will just be a refresher, maybe it will be a wake up call!
some of the examples we all came up with were:
being a servant
pursuing peace
thinking of others as better than ourselves

i looked up the definition of  friend and i had to admit that i disagreed with the definition!
friend was defined as: a person whom one knows, likes and trusts.
well. let's see here.
ever read the story of Jesus with Judas??
Judas was the ultimate back-stabber.
when judas went to the garden to bring the bad guys to find Jesus...
Jesus called him.
get a load of this...
friend!
did you get that??
did Jesus know, like and trust judas? i don't think so!
but he still called him friend!
amazing. and challenging.

am i following ephesians 4:29? letting NO corrupt communication come out of my mouth? is EVERYTHING i say to the use of edifying?
that is how i should be treating everyone i come in contact with!

the next question definitely affects the second question.
Who should I be friends with/not friends with?

this one got a little tricky, because i think that sometimes we get our theology mixed in with worldly thinking.

i brought out a passage that i have literally misunderstood almost my entire life.

I Corinthians 5:11
this is paul talking to the corinthian church. remember that they were very carnal, but still believers!

he says "be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? ...wherefore come out from among them and be separate."

here's where i believe many people miss the point.
i have always heard of this verse as a reason for an believer not to marry an unbeliever.
always.
but back up for a second.
is this passage talking about marriage?
not at all.
i remember sitting in youth group when i was about 15 and having everyone talk about whether it is right or wrong to date a non-christian.
they said...i mean. i know it's wrong to marry one, because of this passage, but it's really a gray area when it comes to dating.

this is not a gray area!!

this passage is saying that if you are unequally yoked together with an unbeliever, (best friends with, dating, spending all your time with, etc.) you are going against what God wants!
this would change a lot of people's lives if they got a hold of this!
amos 3:3 says "can two walk together unless they be agreed?"

how can you be best friends with someone who is walking an entirely different path than you are?

i brought out this fact:
*if you are living an intentionally Godly life...only certain people will want to be your friend!

this passage obviously does not mean that we aren't to talk to people, or be friends with people who do not believe in Jesus the way we do.
Paul says he became all things to all people so that he might save some
Jesus was friends with sinners.
obviously we are to love people, and be a friend to people that don't believe the way that we do.
the main point here is that we are to realize that God wants us to not become so close to another person who doesn't believe as we do, that we start to fall away.

the next part is even tricker.
you ready for this one?
these passages are tough stuff here!

proverbs tells us:
not to be friends with an angry man
to walk with wise men, and we will be wise, but a companion of fools will be destroyed

psalms tells us:
not to walk in the counsel of the ungodly
not to sit in the way of sinners
not to sit in the seat of the scornful

these passages in the new testament are referring to other believers!
* 1 corinthians 5:11 says,
But now i have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one, no, not to eat.


what?
not to even eat with them?
* 2 thessalonians 3 tells us to have NO company with them

* romans 16 tells us to mark them and avoid them!

wow.
i have to tell you.
i do not see a lot of christians practicing this!

do you know why thessalonians says that we need to have no company with them?
so they'll be ashamed!
why would we want them to be ashamed?
so they will come back to the obedience and therefore protection of our loving, forgiving, powerful Father!

did you get that?
the PROTECTION of our Father!!

we read this verse and decide that we aren't going to obey this one, because
who are we to judge?
we don't want them to have no friends!
we don't want them to think that we don't love them.


NO! NO! NO!


we have it all wrong!
by not "judging" or saying anything about it, we are allowing them to get away from the protection of God.

that is not what a real friend would do!
and that is not what we should do!

(i told you this was tough stuff!!)

my challenge at the end of this class was this...

be the kind of person that everyone wants to be friends with!


*are you trustworthy?
*are you loving?
*are you unselfish?

1. be a loving, compassionate, sincere friend, no matter what!
     *love covers a multitude of sins!

2. be a companion of those that fear God -Psalms 119:63
     *decide right now to obey God, and only have your closest friends those that fear God!

make a decision to follow God and make the right choices even when they are difficult!

what are you going to change this week to be a better friend?

start now!