Relationship Status: Faithful Friends

What would happen in your family, in your marriage, in your friendships if you just put this one thing into practice? Where you don't let anything come out of your mouth except what is truly helpful for building them up, helping them take the next steps they need to take with whatever situation they're facing. Friends, this one thing will radically transform a marriage, a friendship, a coworker relationship, a parent child relationship. It will transform any relationship if you just practice this one thing consistently. [00:56:14] (40 seconds)  #WordsThatBuild

It grieves the Holy Spirit. You see, it's not just about these relationships, it's about this one too. And this relationship is directly connected to this relationship. If we don't do these things right, we're grieving and messing up this relationship too at the same time. And what's the top priority? This relationship. We wanna keep this one right, our relationship with the father. And that relationship can't be what it ought to be if we're not gonna handle these relationships the way we need to handle these relationships. Like, they are connected whether you want them to be or not. You can't be right here if you're not right here. Those two things can't be separated. [01:01:52] (39 seconds)  #KeepGodFirst

Jesus died on the cross for you so you could have his indwelling presence of his spirit, and the spirit is right there, and the spirit's there as a helper, as someone to encourage you, as someone to help you. And the holy spirit of God is grieved when you're tearing other people down, When you are hurting other people, when you are being mean spirited to other people, it grieves the spirit of God himself for us to use our language that way, to use our voice and our interaction with people that way. When you speak negatively, when you're critical, when you complain, when you go around bringing everybody else down, you're not just bringing everyone else down, you're grieving the Holy Spirit inside you when you do that. [01:01:06] (46 seconds)  #DontGrieveTheSpirit

If you wanna have any relationships that last, whether it's marriage, friendships, any relationship that you really wanna hold on to, it's going to require this of you that you're willing to graciously forgive the other person. Here's the thing. We want them to do that for us, don't we? If we mess up. We don't want that to have to be the end of the relationship. We don't want that to have to be the end of the friendship. We don't want to have to to to have that separate us for the rest of our lives, do we? We want that from them. How about we do that for them? We'd be gracious to them. Why? He tells us why because God has been gracious to us. [01:03:04] (51 seconds)  #ForgiveWithGrace

Now why is that important? Because he's with you with the good times, because when you have something good happen, you wanna tell somebody, don't you? He's right there. Talk to him about it. Thank him for it. He wants to share and celebrate with you on those good things. But you know what? He's also with you in the waiting room when you're waiting for the doctor to come out and give you the news on how everything went with somebody that you love. He's there with you when you're standing beside the casket clinging to a flower as you look at the loved one who's gone on ahead of you. He's also there with you when you walk into a restaurant one more time and say, table for one. Well, you don't want it to be a table for one. He's also with you when you're sitting in the attorney's office signing divorce papers that you didn't want to sign. He's there with you no matter what. [01:05:29] (66 seconds)  #GodIsWithYou

It took me a long time to catch on to this, but looking back on my life, I see how true it was. Even as a young child, I sensed it, but I didn't know where it was or where it was coming from. God says, he promises, will never leave you or forsake you. You know, I can look back at my life as a little kid even though I wasn't raised in church, and I can think of times when I sense the presence of God with me. That he was always there. He's there for you too. That's the kind of friend he is. When you're doing good, who's there? He's there. But when you're messing up, who's there? Yeah. He he doesn't leave you or forsake you based on your performance in the moment. He's the consistent friend that is always there for you. [01:04:12] (47 seconds)  #NeverForsaken

Greater love has no one in this that he laid down his life for his friends. How do you become a friend? You seek what's best for the other person. That's what real friends do. You celebrate their wins. You celebrate their successes. You you mourn with those who mourn. You you you laugh with those who laugh. You you seek what's best for them, not just for yourself. Sacrifice is a beautiful verse. Right? Let's be a little less dramatic but truthful. Let's get down to the brass tacks on this. No one has no one has greater love than this. He goes to help his friend move when it's a 100 degrees outside. [00:53:18] (46 seconds)  #SacrificialFriendship

So you start asking yourself, do I have these friends in my life? You run out of gas on the side of the road, who are you gonna call? You need a ride to the airport early in the morning? I got somebody I called for that. A good friend and neighbor that's part of our church family. I'm so thankful for that friendship, and we wanna do that for them too. Right? It goes both ways. It's that person that you know you could call when you have a real need. But again, we always wanna think I want that for me, but are you being that for somebody else? Are you the person they would call? Are you that person that they know in a pinch, in a tight place, in a terrible situation? I've got somebody I know I can call and you would be the person they think of. [00:54:33] (52 seconds)  #BeTheFriendTheyCall