Bear with One Another

Friendship should come with a warning label: Beware, friends may disappoint you when you share life together. Often, it’s the little things that add up to bigger things, such as a friend not communicating as often as we’d like. Or perhaps a friend took a joke too far. Or worse, a friend did something spiteful, and though she has since apologized, you are nervous about trusting her again. Community is messy.

In Colossians 3:13, Paul writes, “Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive” (ESV). As sisters in Christ, we are to bear with one another’s weaknesses and offer forgiveness when it fosters reconciliation. This doesn’t mean to blindly accept abuse. But with discernment, seek unity between the family of God.

As we pursue friendship, it’s important to remember to believe the best of one another’s intentions. Seek clarity and kind communication. “And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them” (Luke 6:31, ESV).

Pray

“God, soften my heart toward a friend I have garnered bitterness toward. Help me be brave to share with a friend the ways in which she has hurt me. Show me where my own faults are in the ways I have treated a friend. Heal what has been broken.”