One of the secrets of living a blessed, fulfilled, meaningful life is making and keeping friends who love the Lord Jesus Christ.

According to the Wall Street Journal, good friends are essential to our medical, psychological, social and spiritual well-being at every age and stage of life. I want to mention several important keys to keeping good friends. Again, these come out of the Wall Street Journal. I’m not making these up.

First, schedule regular activities with a few good friends. The activities can be as simple as coffee or a meal together. Second, spend less time on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media. Instead, see your friends or give them a call. Connect with them in real life. Third, give each other the benefit of the doubt. Make your friendship stronger by being ready to forgive—and ready to ask for forgiveness. Fourth, make sure that you have friends who are older and others who are younger than you. Fifth, prune away any friendship that isn’t good or that is even toxic.

Finally, I encourage you to pray by name for your friends, invite them to go to church with you, and get back in touch if you haven’t seen them for a while.  In John 15:15, Jesus calls us friends. In turn, He wants us to love each other wholeheartedly. Let’s do just that today.

This is Luis Palau.