REALationship with God: Friendships

How’s your relationship with God right now? For a lot of us, some days we’re up and sometimes we’re down. I can definitely relate to this. With everything that’s been going on over the last few weeks, things with me have been up and down. If you’re trying to discover how to grow your relationship with God, make sure you follow this series. Today we will be discussing connections.

My first week of university was interesting. I met a group of lovely people who I got along with but the friendship was fleeting and their views and beliefs weren’t aligned with mine. We had nothing in common and I wasn’t interested in the same things they were interested in. They encouraged me to do things that I knew I shouldn’t so this friendship was very short-lived.

If we had continued to be friends, while I do believe I may have tried to encourage them, they also may have had a negative effect on my life.

 

“Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” “- 1 Corinthians 15:33 NIV

 

Then I went to my first youth meeting at church. I felt so unknowledgeable about the Bible. Yes, I knew your typical bible stories but I wasn’t that girl who did a ton of quoting scripture. To be honest I don’t think anything is wrong with not being that person but we should never be comfortable in complacency. I compared myself to these people and I felt so unworthy. The young people seemed so much more mature in their faith than I was. They knew the bible really well.

One thing I’m proud to say is that while I felt intimidated, these young people had a great impact on my life. One of the youth became one of my closest friends and another one became one of my mentors. One of them even took time out to study the Bible with me every day and all of them continue to hold a special place in my heart even after I left Brighton.

I also attended another youth group for students at a different church. This experience really challenged me and my knowledge of God and the Bible. A lot of the people at this youth group had just come to know God and sometimes their views were completely different from what I believed. So this fuelled me to study the Bible even more to ensure that I developed the correct understanding and I was prepared for a challenging question. While these young people may not have known the Bible that well, their zeal was beautiful. They were truly striving to fall in love with God. This really had an impact on my life, to see how beautiful it was for all of these young people to come together and show how much they loved God and they exemplified that child-like faith.

 

I can truly say being a part of these youth groups helped me to grow my relationship with God.

 

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” – Proverbs 27:17 NIV

 

On this Christian journey, you need people in your life to support you and help you to grow because we can’t do this alone. It is important for us to surround ourselves with positive, like-minded people.

Kerel Pinder, a Bahamian influencer hosted a Facebook live about friendship last week and said we should ask ourselves this question, “Does this friendship or connection oppose my purpose?” I encourage you to watch her video. Click here to watch it.

 

Practical Tips for Growing your Relationship with God

1. Don’t compare your journey to someone else’s journey. This is not a race. Just strive daily to grow closer to God.
2. Evaluate your friendships. Do you have friends who help you to get closer to God? Do you need more Godly friends? Do you need to remove yourself from certain friendships?
3. Surround yourself with people who will help you to grow in your faith by joining youth groups or even forming your own group.

For more tips on growing your relationship with God, check out Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.

---

Are you being challenged to grow in your faith?

Do you have friends who help you with your walk with God?

Let me know in the comments!