Straight from a Soul-Refreshed Heart
By Lisa Elliott

I have been blessed to have many friendships throughout my life. However, there is one that comes immediately to mind and rises quickly to the top of my soul-refreshing thank-tank.

As I take time to consider this particular friend of mine, there are a few things that drew me in. To begin with, she was a new believer when we met. That, in and of itself, immediately ignited something in my soul. Since I came to know the Lord, myself, I have always found it exhilarating to hang around new believers. Being with them reminds me of when I first fell in love with Jesus and, in turn, helps keep my own faith fresh. Perhaps it was the fresh zeal she had for the Lord. Or maybe it was her eager willingness to learn of things eternal that held great appeal to me. In any case, when I recognized her deep desire to get to know the Lord on a deeper level, I knew I needed more of her in my life.

Our friendship began at our church’s prayer meeting as she poured out her heart before me and the Lord. I was further awakened to her love for Him over coffee at my kitchen table. It was then enriched at a small group Bible study I hosted in my home. As our friendship grew so, too, did both of our walks with God as we journeyed through life together over the next thirty-five years and continues to this day. I consider her to be not only a good friend, but a God friend.

We haven’t lived in the same community for several years. But the distance has done nothing to sever our friendship. In fact, it has made us more intentional about staying close, more often than not, over the phone, where we can hear each other’s voices. (No doubt I give her more opportunity in this regard than she does me. LOL.) There is not a time when we speak that I don’t come out of our conversation feeling regrouped, recharged, rejuvenated, and ready to face the music once again.

Proverbs 27:9b (MSG) says, "a sweet friendship refreshes the soul.” How is that so? Let me count the ways!

1. Speaking life, hope, and encouragement into each other’s hearts and minds. “Encourage each other ..: Build each other up…daily!” (I Thess. 4:18; 5:11; Heb. 3:13; 10:25).
2. Praying for and with each other. “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).
3. Journeying together on both good and bad days. “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). “…Be patient, bearing with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2).
4. Validating one another’s pain, sorrows, struggles, and offences. “Carry each other’s burdens…” (Gal. 6:2).
5. Being honest with each other about where we’re at in life, in relationship with each other and others and, most importantly, in our relationship with the Lord in any given season. “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses” (Prov. 27:6).
6. Challenging each other in our walks with God. “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens iron” (Prov. 27:7).
7. Offering life-giving perspective and lifting each other up from a subjectively-objective and godly point of view. “speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord” (Eph. 5:19).
8. Loving each other not only for who we are, but also toward who Christ intends for us to become. “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you…” (Rom. 15:7).
9. Speaking truth into each other’s hearts and minds. Especially at times when the Deceiver gets a foothold, “for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ” (Eph. 4:15).
10. Keeping confidences. “A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret" (Prov. 11:13).
11. Sharing what Scripture we’re reading and what we’re learning or working through. “Instruct one another” (Rom. 15:14). “Teach and admonish one another (Col. 3:16).
12. Experiencing the freedom to share and bear souls with another without any judgement (Rom. 14:13). “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Prov. 15:1).
13. Inspiring each other in our marriages, as mothers, grandmothers, and as children of God. “…Spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Heb. 10:24).
14. Making mutually life-giving investments into each other’s emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being “Have equal concern for each other” (I Cor. 12:25).
15. Encouraging one another in the Lord. “Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard” (Mal. 3:17).
    

Just when I think I can’t love or appreciate her more than I already do, the Lord adds something else to the list. In keeping with 1 Thessalonians, which says, “Make your love increase and overflow for each other.”

Just thinking about my friend in all these God-given ways lifts my spirits and refreshes my soul. If you don’t have someone like this in your life, perhaps you could be one. Someone like me could always use someone like you!

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Need a little extra encouragement? Discover more inspirational blogs by Lisa Elliott, Straight from the Heart.

About this Contributor:

Lisa Elliott is an inspirational speaker and award-winning author of The Ben Ripple, Dancing in the Rain, and A Ministry Survival Guide. She’s also a writer for Just Between Us Magazine, theStory, and Good Ground. She and her husband, David, have four children (three on earth, one in heaven) and serve the Lord together in Stratford, ON, Canada.