How Spiritual Friends Are Guardrails

Spiritual friends

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NLT)

We’re in this together. We celebrated my return to Seeds of Scripture and now we’re partners. Whether you read and comment on every post or stay silent forever, you’re my accountability partner. I committed publicly to post weekly and you’re counting on it.

Thank you! I need accountability. Personal deadlines are squishy. I’m soft on myself and succumb to distracting temptations. No one will know if I put the task off. Right? It’s my little secret.

Spiritual friends are helpful in areas of struggle too.

Temptation is strong, especially when faced alone. The writer of Ecclesiastes advised:

Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble… a person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Eccl 4:9-10,12 (NLT)

Spiritual friends are guardrails around my weaknesses. They prevent me from driving into the ditch. A friend can see my blind spots when my vision is impaired. They can signal an alert when I’m at risk of collision. But honestly, a warning is rarely necessary because I would never intentionally disappoint a friend.

Is it possible to live a holy life without spiritual friends? Can we keep our struggles and weaknesses just between us and God? Perhaps, but how often do we try to keep secrets from God? Hiding from God is harder when a spiritual friend delivers His message.

Within intimate and honest spiritual relationships advice is given and received with love in order to build each other up. Yes, sometimes the words are difficult to hear.

Iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another – Proverbs 27:17

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote:

A man who confesses his sins in the presence of a brother knows that he is no longer alone with himself; he experiences the presence of God in the reality of the other person. (Life Together, Harper and Row, 1954, p 20)

How do you set up guardrails around your weaknesses? Do you have a spiritual friend and accountability partner? If not, how will you find one?

Click on these links to read about receiving a difficult, honest correction or how to respond when a friend needs you?

#SeedsofScripture #accountabilitypartner #spiritualfriends #prayerpartners

 

1 Comment

  1. J.D. Wininge on January 19, 2023 at 6:33 AM

    Good thoughts Ms Cathy. We all need to “gutter guards” in our lives.

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