I Love My Shepherd 25 – Chasing Freedom YA Bonus 2: Freedom in Friendship without Fear

Questions to consider:

Do you have a friendship you wish you could get back? Reconnect with again, go deeper, love more?

What is real friendship? What does it look like?

• List as many qualities as you can that make up a real friendship

 

 

Who is a real friend to you?

Where have you found real friendship?

When have you struggled with a friendship, been ditched or deserted?

 

Galatians 2:4-6 – false brothers, differentiating false/fake from real

How can you tell if someone is fake? Do you have anything that helps you discern real from false friends?

 

4 Characteristics of Real Relationships:

• Share truth (not gossip, making stuff up about themselves or others)
• Don’t expect you to be a different person (does this friendship help me grow or tear me down?)
• Impartiality (no choosing or judging friends on material things, family background, etc.)

What are some things teens/young adults choose friends based on?

• Offer love and forgiveness (tell each other the truth, but offer care and forgiveness)

 

 

Christ does this best – friendship without fear, never afraid of Him leaving us, ditching us

• Judas: Matthew 26:14-16
• Without distrespecting the plight of actual slavery: How is slavery a good metaphor for junky friendship?

 

Fear in friendships -

• look like demands, put downs, over the top sarcasm, expectations on things that don’t matter, constant suggestions that are uninvited, “You should really” or hurtful comments followed by “just joking”
• Internal fear in friendship – may have nothing to do with the other person, but this relationship may not work for you if you are constantly concerned what they think of you, want to make them proud or unhealthy trying to impress
• God never asks us to impress Him, He asks us to seek Him, converse with Him
• God’s friendship is sacrificial

 

Freedom in Friendship –

• Open conversation, exchange of topics and ideas
• No one looks the same, God values different races and ethnicities, ideas and genders
• Challenge you, ask you to take risks, help you grow
• Offer trust, do not misjudge character, give people the benefit of the doubt
• Include other people, willing to let others in, no partiality
• Identifying fake v. real, heavy boundaries against fake
• look for friendship mentors, those around you doing friendship well

Question of the week: Is this friendship offering freedom or fear?

 

 

ESV Bible translation - Copyright © 2001 by Crossway,

a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

All rights reserved.

 

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