Bailey Newbern is a Ministry Assistant in Student Ministry at Liberty Live Church in Hampton Roads, VA. She is passionate about discipleship and leading up the next generation of girls, especially girls in middle and high school. She also specifically loves helping young girls and women navigate through depression, anxiety, and other mental health needs through scripture and prayer.
Friends, I think we can all agree that finding and keeping godly friends in our lives is not at all a walk in the park! Similar to marriage and any other life-giving relationships in our lives, good, godly friendships take work, effort, and intentionality.
How to Find Godly Friend
I think that we as people naturally gravitate towards people that think how we think and are in similar walks of life as we are. Plugging into your local church can be vital to finding and building these life-giving friendships!
Joining a group at your church can be an awesome way to find those people! When you’re in similar stages of life, whether that be college, entering the work force, military, single, married, etc., you can build deeper relationships because you can relate to them in ways you can’t relate to others.
Volunteering in your church is another great way to find community as well! I work in the student ministry at our church and some of the people that lead alongside me are some of my favorite people in my life. Again, there’s a connection between people who are working towards the same mission as you, in our case discipling the next generation, that creates the very best friendships!
How to Keep Healthy Friendships
Just like in marriage, friendships take work and dedication. Life is BUSY. We have to be intentional about giving water and sunlight to our friendships.
A conversation over text message does more for your heart than you would think. As a wife and mother working full time in ministry, I can attest that finding time to hang out with friends is very similar to playing a game of Tetris. But send them a text! Check in. See how they’re doing mentally, spiritually, emotionally. It’s such an easy, yet meaningful connection point.
Celebrate life together! Show up for each other! My heart feels so loved when my friends are there! When there’s a birthday, life event, a celebration or even a sad event, being surrounded by your friends is such an amazing feeling.
Friends are gifts from God! We were not meant to do life alone but in community.
Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice.
Proverbs 27:9, NIV
