His Best

Happy Saturday!

God is SO good!  I am thankful, today, for the many people He has brought into my life who encourage and inspire me to be the best me I can be!  Spending time with these people not only brightens my mood and reminds me of God's grace and bountiful goodness, but also causes me to recognize my best qualities because they bring out the best in me!

Conversely, there are people in our lives who tend to bring us down and bring out the worst in us.  These types of "friends" can cause us to feel like we need to change who we are, become a "better person," fix ourselves, or simply cause us to feel inadequate.  These are not God-given friends!  Granted, every person brought into our lives is there for a season and a reason, HOWEVER, the whole goal of fellowship and community is to be encouraged, feel and spread the Glory of God, and to bear one-another's burdens and triumphs in LOVE!  Our culture tends to send a different message:

"You are never enough, so surround yourself with these people (who are better than you) and fake it til you make it."  -Love, the world.

Now, why, in our right minds, would we want to listen to that?  My point exactly!  There is a much better lesson brought to you by the One who TRUELY loves you: you are enough.  And, in true fellowship and TRUE friendship, your friends will echo the voice of the Lord!  After all, by this, everyone will know that we are Christ's disciples, by how we love each other!

I love that God has created us to be people of community, and that He created community to spurr us on to further His kingdom!  There's nothing better than the realization that God has brought you out of unhealthy relationships and gifted you with true friendship  to last a lifetime!  What a blessing it is to have each other!