A FRIENDSHIP HIGH FIVER

A FRIENDSHIP HIGH FIVER

  Proverbs [GW] 18:24; 26:11 Friends can destroy one another, but a loving friend can stick closer than family. … As a dog goes back to its vomit, so a fool repeats his stupidity.

  2Peter [ESV] chapter 2  … These [people] are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: "The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire."

   Hang around with a bunch clowns and what do we get? Life as a circus, entertaining, exciting, melodramatic  . . . limited to running around in rings.

  Opting for edifying friends, those that exemplify building others requires knowledge, wisdom, and commonly a submissive exercise in self-denial. (Phil.2:3-5) Moving toward being a responsible person can be very difficult, for some a pitched battle.

  BEYOND BOUNDARIES, Learning To trust Again In Relationships, by Dr. John Townsend is a book I recommend. On page 177 he lists Five Indications the Other Person is (Really) Connected to Good People. The 5 being:

1.       You share similar healthy values with them. (Think goals.)

2.       You like them. (No need to practice walking on eggs.)

3.       You see their vulnerability in relationships. (They are courageous. They don’t suffer from risk aversion.)

4.       You see them relate outside of you. (They are not codependent.)

5.       You see good fruit in them. (Mt.7:16, 20)

  There is a rim around every circus ring. Do not let it be a boundary. The path out is comparatively small. If not already outside of, walk out, walk on while you can still see the opening. (Jn.12:35-36)