Young People's Group

LEARNING TO CULTIVATE GOOD FRIENDSHIPS

by Pastor Mitch
June 05, 2005

Thanking God For Deep Principles Of Friendship

The Young Adults Group held their first YAG retreat last week. We want to thank God for a wonderful time of studying God’s word. The more than 70 people who came to hear Pastor Charles teach from the life of David found their subjective concepts of friendship challenged and remolded. Personally, I found myself discovering vital principles of friendship that changed the way I perceive friendship. I realized that it is important for us to keep discovering new things about friendship from the word of God and not carry on with fixed ideas.

Deep Lessons Of Friendship That Impacted My Heart

There were many lessons that impacted me. I would like to highlight two.

1. Having A Kindred Spirit With Each Other

David and Jonathan had a great friendship. The reason why they had such a great friendship was because they had a kindred spirit.

“The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.”
1 Samuel 18:1

There was this special sense of closeness to each other because they had a similar spirit. They both possessed a deep faith in God. They both had a courageous spirit. They were people of depth. And they had a capacity to love. Jonathon had a heart of deep love for David. There was nothing impure about this love. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all of us could cultivate such a kindred spirit? If all of us had bigger hearts of love for each other, wouldn’t there be greater strength in our friendship?

2. Having A Circle Of Friends

Another important principle to practise is having a good circle of friends. David had a terrific circle of friends. They were truly a “band of brothers”. They were considered as David’s mighty men. There were thirty-seven of them who stood by David through the thick and thin of war. There were also three mighty men who were close to David. When some heard that David was thirsty, they risked their lives to go behind enemy lines to obtain a cup of water for him. Such was their love for David. In a similar way, we need to cultivate a circle of friendship too. We need a circle of friends to stand by each other.

The Challenge To Cultivate Good Friendship

During the month of June, we are holding special events. There is the Sentosa Outing (4 June 2005), a special popiah party (11 June 2005) and a “Giving Thanks” meeting (18 June 2005). We would like to encourage all young people to join us for these activities. It is through these activities that we can cultivate further strong friendships. We can widen our circle of friends. Let’s be challenged to cultivate good friendships with each other.

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