Friendships are bonds between two or more people who want to engage with one another. It involves having mutual interest in each other’s thoughts, feelings and experiences. Friendships work on reciprocity of trust, respect, emotional support and admiration. True friendship is so much more than pressing a friend button on a social media site. While those friends usually have the same interests or thoughts, they generally are not the deeper emotional relationships that come from experiencing life together. Imagine if the four men who carried their paralyzed friend to Christ would have just hit the like button when he posted a picture of his condition and commented that they were…

You’ve probably seen the necklaces that have a heart with the words, “Best Friends,” engraved on them and they separate into two necklaces so each friend can wear one as a reminder of their friendship. Nowadays friends might even get matching tattoos for the same reason. When I see people with them it makes me wonder what made them best friends and what’s their story. They may have grown up together, had sleep overs, shared their deepest secrets and spend countless hours talking with each other. Whatever the reason, they want others to see and know that they have a best friend. Ruth and Naomi became best friends through the…

As you travel on an Israel tour from Bethlehem to Moab, a mountainous strip of land in Jordan, you can imagine Ruth and Naomi traveling the same 50 miles of rugged and steep terrain. Although it is a short trip today, it would have taken Ruth and Naomi 7-10 days on foot.  They would have had many moments of convervation and moments of silence as they trekked across the region. It reminds me of the type of friends that you don’t see very often but you know they would be there in a moments notice if you needed them. When you reunite the conversations can last for hours just like it…

Doesn’t it feel great when your hard work, long hours and commitment are noticed and appreciated by others. How about when you receive a heartfelt thank you for cooking, cleaning and taking care of your home. Or when your family and friends recognize the time and effort you put in to making sure all of their needs and desires are taken care of. In reality there are times that none of that happens and you are left feeling unappreciated, looked over and taken for granted. What do you do when that happens? In those situations it’s very easy for resentment to take center stage and steer us down the road…

In the story of Ruth we read that she went out into the fields and picked up the leftover grain to provide food for her and Naomi. This type of work was called gleaning and was a practice that was established by God to provide for the poor, widows, ophans and foreigners. It wasn’t a hand out, but rather a way that they could gather food to survive and it required effort and commitment on the part of the gatherer. Ruth was more than willing to put forth the effort that was required to provide for herself and Naomi. Everyday she would leave early and go to the fields where…

Have you ever taken one of those color personality tests? After getting to know you a bit through several questions your answers reveal which color you most resemble. Yellow was always described as an easy going, fun loving, life of the party type of personality. The type that was always thought of to make the funnest friends. We would like to surround ourselves with this type of friend, but the truth is, we would never grow up if that were the case. We would never develope the characteristics that God intended for us through the experiences that refine us. We need, no matter how hard it may be, refining friends.…

The other day I was given a different perspective on this whole study on friendship. I was reading about Judas and trying to visualize the time he spent with Jesus. Just like the other disciples, he was chosen by the Lord, traveled with Him, spent time with Him, was given authority over demons by Him and sent out to proclaim the Good News. At the last supper when Jesus told His disciples that one of them would betray Him, not one person said, “I knew it! That Judas could never be trusted,” in fact, many asked Jesus if they were the one. During the three years of Jesus’ ministry all…

If I had to summerize the character of Ruth in one statement it would be, “Compelled by Love.” I imagine that she had intense moments of grief, cried tears quietly as she tried to sleep, felt true loneliness and was overwhelmed at times. But regardless of how she was personally feeling, she was always more concerned for the welfare others. It made me stop and ask myself, “when was the last time I did something because I was compelled by love?” Not because it was what I was suppose to do or something I should do, but doing it completely from a heart driven by love. Then God graciously gave…