Hello everyone and happy Friday!
I wanted to take today to encourage all of my readers to be sure you are connected with friends who love you, no matter what is going on in your life! We need friends we can be real with – through life’s up and downs. We need people we can depend on to be there in both the good times and the bad times. We need people who will love us yet tell us the truth of our situation and the truth of the character they see in us.
I had the pleasure, not too long ago, of being with such friends. We laughed, we cried, and we had fun! We had funny conversations and serious conversations. We shared our joys and our pain. As my one dear friend said, “I can feel the love in this room!” And we all could feel that love! This is what life is all about – doing life together with people who care about us. If you don’t have friends like this, you are missing out! If you have friends who have a lot of drama and are negative all the time, you are missing out! I would also boldly say, get some new friends! You deserve better!
Earlier this year I removed myself from some friendships that were not like the ones I have already described. People are not our friends when they lie to you, try to compete with you, intentionally use you, intentionally hurt others, and have no plans to be real with you. They wear their masks well. These type of people are just users – or as I like to call them – the venomous snakes who smile at you while planning how they can poison you. These are the type of people you distance yourself from. These are the type of people you walk away from and don’t look back. These are the type of people who will literally poison your self-confidence and your purpose because they don’t really love you or support you, they just love and support what they can get from you (and they hate themselves).
Real friends are everything I have already mentioned in the first two paragraphs of this blog. I have more to add! They also build your self-confidence and support you in our purpose – whether they understand the why of it or not. They do not compete with you and they will not lie to you. They will not use you or others, and they won’t intentionally hurt you or others. Do you see the difference?
I want to end today by asking you, who is in your circle? I will quote Trent Shelton, “Not every person in your circle is in your corner.” No truer words were ever spoken! I ask you today to evaluate your circle and determine who is actually in your corner and not just there for what they can get from you. You might be surprised. My late husband said something to me once and it has stuck with me; “Some people are in your front row for a season, then they move behind you. Life changes and later on they may be in the balcony. However, there are times when it is necessary to be sure that certain people are not even in the balcony - they need to have left the building.”
Who is in your front row, the 2nd row, or the balcony that needs to leave the building? Who do you need to allow into your front row, 2nd row and balcony or even into the building that you have not let in before?
Stick with the real friends I have described, surround yourself with those people (preferably in your front row or 2nd row). You will be a better and healthier person for it!
Proverbs 18:24 NLT; There are 'friends' who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother. Love, Elizabeth