The Ministerial Alliance Minute

By Pastor Brian Johnson, First Baptist Church, Winnie

  Friendship Begins with Being a Friend

  Do you ever feel lonely and wish you had more friends or someone to do life with? Someone to pick up the phone and call to check on you or invite you over? Someone you knew, regardless of what was going on, you could count on?

  That person is hard to find and more valuable than gold.

  But let me encourage you to stop looking so hard to find that person and instead start being that person for others.

  We all want someone who will check on us, but who are we checking on? We want someone to invite us over, but who are we inviting? We want someone who will stand with us when life gets difficult, but are we willing to stand with someone else?

  Jesus said, “Whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them” (Matthew 7:12). We often call this the Golden Rule, and it is still true. If you want a friend, be a friend. If you want encouragement, give encouragement. If you want someone to show up, start showing up for others.

  Acts 20:35 says, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” That is true with our time, our attention, our kindness, and our friendship.

  Proverbs 18:24 says, “A man who has friends must himself be a friend.” Real friendship does not begin with finding the perfect person. It begins with becoming the kind of person others can count on.

  So look around you. There may be someone else who feels lonely. Someone who is waiting for a phone call, an invitation, or a simple reminder that they matter.

  You may be the answer to someone else’s prayer for a friend.

  Stop waiting for someone to be that person for you—and start being that person for someone else.