#blessed
Jeanne gushes on and on about how amazing I am. Michael focuses the conversation on me and encourages me. Ryan always has a genuine compliment and never seems to be having a bad day. Angie sends texts of encouragement to me and PR31 on a regular basis. Dane always seems to be in my corner. Brandon always helps, no matter how busy his life is. Lyndsey makes me think she thinks her aunt and uncle hung the moon.
I have some great friends. I am #blessed. And the reason I shared what each of them does as a friend is that each of them are the epitome of today’s quality to work on if we are going to be great friends to others… ENERGIZING!
To be a great friend to someone else, we have to regularly engage in speaking life into them. We need to energize them. We need to pick them up. We need to make their day. We need to build up their self-esteem.
We do this by being positive, upbeat and optimistic. We do this when we choose to see the very best in them and point it out to them. We do this by speaking words of encouragement to them.
In light of yesterday’s post about being real and vulnerable and authentic… I know most of my own faults. (There are so few… wink, wink.) I typically don’t need anyone to point out how badly I am doing at imitating Christ. I instead often forget that I am making progress and am headed in the right direction. I fail to see my strengths, talents or abilities as matching up. I miss my own value. Perhaps I’m not alone in this. (This is the part where you reciprocate so that our friendship can grow.)
Too often, because I am #blessed with great friends who are energizing and life-giving to me, I dump my load on them. Too many times, I get off the phone or away from the visit and realize that I probably just sucked life out of them instead of pouring into them. Scripture points out, though, that we should help carry each others’ burdens and in this way fulfill the requirements of being like Jesus.
So I am determined to be a great friend. I am committed to energizing my friends…. to encouraging them… to building them up… to doting on them… to gushing about their accomplishments… to cheer for them… to speak life into them.
I hope you are, too! Folks need great friends who energize them. And I believe you have just what it takes to be a great friend! As you are that kind of friend, don’t be surprised when you find that you must be #blessed because you get that kind of friends in return.
allenchapin.com 