Friends for the Soul

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Proverbs 17:17

Friends are a gift from God. Having people around us to mutually love, support, and encourage is helpful to living a full life. However, it’s not easy for all of us to find good friends let alone those who would be great accountability partners in our Christian faith. How did we go about finding friends for the SOUL?

S – Start with taking the initiative to reach out to 3-5 people in your sphere of relationships in family, at work, church, or community.

“Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.” (Proverbs 15:22)

It’s up to us to make that first step of accountability to get to know other people. This sharing our plans and seeking the advice of others who have been where we are going—helps give us the foundation to build on and move forward.

O – Open up to hear the hard and sometimes difficult truths.

“It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools.” (Ecclesiastes 7:5)

We take courage from hearing good things from others; however, we have to handle the critiques in the same vein to help us mature. Obviously not easy, but we need accountability partners who are friends, not fans. These are friends who care enough to tell us the truth with gentleness so we can grow and move forward in our dreams and passions.

U – Unleash our capacity to accept, encourage, and coach each other in our gifts and talents.

“Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.” (Proverbs 16:24)

Generously encourage our friends in their pursuits of purpose and meaning. The truth is that when we push others to their potential, we are also pushing ourselves. There’s no fear if we are jointly looking to improve ourselves as individuals as well as an accountability group.

L – Love, but let go of those who continually bring us down.

“The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.” (Proverbs 18:8)

Sometimes we stumble upon friends who may unknowingly and even unintentionally drag us down with their words and actions. Over time we recognize the damage of holding on to people who dampen our hope and passion with their words. While we can remain friends, it may not be productive to have them in our inner circle of accountability. This takes wisdom from God.