Diamonds in the Rough

When trying to decide the best thing to write about, given a blank canvas to work with, one word remained constant with me throughout my praying and asking God just exactly what He wanted to say through me. The word may seem like such a small minute word that can often be overused, a word so often not put into action as it was intended to, and a word that is so important in the lives of everyone. That one small word is: friendship. You honestly might be wondering how this could be the word I was thinking of and surely you misread it, but alas you will understand soon enough.

So, as crazy as this may sound, I am about to completely challenge what dictionary.com has to say about the definition of friendship. Okay, maybe not completely but a little. So, dictionary.com states that a friend is “a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard”, “a person who gives assistance; patron; supporter”, and “a person who is on good terms with another, a person who is not hostile”. Honestly to anybody, these definitions would be the entirety of friendship, but to others, this would only be a small portion of what a true friendship consists of.
James 5:16 (NIV) says, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other…” God allows us to remain in contact with other people to please Him and honor His word. He longs for us to pray for one another and confess our sins to one another. Throughout our lives as students, there are constantly multiple things pulling us in all directions and without people to talk to about our struggles and in turn receive prayer and motivation it can be much harder to handle. Friends are God’s gift to us to hold us accountable and to remind us that we are not alone in our struggles.

As previously stated, dictionary.com provides “a person who is on good terms with another, a person who is not hostile” as a definition of a friend. However, this would more so be regarded as a companion and Proverbs 18:24 (NIV) tells us, “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” God states explicitly that the person with many companions is not to overcome this world; however, having friends that stick closer to you than your own brother allow you to stand firm.

As students, I believe the hardest thing in our everyday lives is maintaining the relationship with God that He longs for us to have in the busyness of our lives. The events that occur every day, the to-do list that seems to only get longer with the more things we complete, and everything in between can begin to consume us if we are not careful. Throughout the busyness of our life, we often tend to put God on the backburner trying to finish our other things, and I personally believe this is when it makes obeying His commandments and trusting in Him much harder. When things are laid back and simple, it’s easy to give God glory and trust in Him. However, when our lives become busy, and we don’t invest in our relationship with God we tend to begin to slip. If our relationship with Him is not constant and steady, peer pressure is much harder to overcome.

As much as we would all love to be able to follow Jesus with our whole heart completely by ourselves, that is simply not what God’s plan is for us. We are to form relationships with fellow Christians to maintain a solid foundation to lean on in the hard times. I am definitely not saying a solid friend group is more important than seeking God, but when you surround yourself with people who have a relationship with Christ, they are able to lift you up, hold you accountable, and comfort you in the hard times.
Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” (NIV) I know it can be super scary trying to exactly pick a group of people that is going to lift you and that will constantly remind you to put your trust in God. I have been there; trust me. But God clearly states that ‘iron sharpens iron’ – we should be forming relationships with people that are sharpening us and reminding us daily to take up our cross and follow Him even when times are tough, and we would rather just sit. It really is crazy honestly, because I know so often I might not truly love the advice my friends give to me or it may have not been exactly what I wanted to hear, but every time it is exactly what I need to hear and it draws me closer to God and that is how I know I have found friends that are sharpening me.

If college has shown me anything, it has shown me the meaning of true friendship and the absolute beauty behind it. I am so thankful for the friends I have made in Jesus’ name, and I am thankful for the encouragement they give me on a daily basis. I can definitely tell a difference in the impact my friends can have on the overall essence of my attitude and my personal relationship with The Lord.