Making friends first, Christians second

Quote: “Blessed are they who have the gift of making friends, for it is one of God's best gifts. It involves many things, but above all, the power of going out of one's self, and appreciating whatever is noble and loving in another.” [Thomas Hughes]

• As start making inroads into Hope08 and all the amazing acts of kindness taking place this year, let’s consider the whole business of making friends. How do you make friends? What are your motives for making them?
• Do we make friends simply because we want to hit people with the Good News of Jesus, or should we make friends simply because this is a great thing to do? Surely there’s room for both, yet one thing’s for sure, we all need friends.
• Let’s look at Paul in Acts 19: 23-41. A riot develops, and two of Paul’s companions are dragged into the amphitheatre. He wants to join them, but the other believers dare not let him risk his life for his friends. Even the officials of the city, friends of Paul tried to stop him taking this risk. He could have been mobbed and killed!
• Like Paul and the quick-thinking Mayor of Ephesus, one day we may need to call on our friends to get us out of a tight situation. Paul’s friends in Ephesus weren’t all Christians. Are your friends all Christians? We should always try and make friends where we live, in the shops we buy from, the people we meet in the street - firstly because they are people and therefore valuable in God’s eyes, and secondly, because we can witness to them through our everyday lives. Once we make friends, we can win over their trust and once we’ve done that, we open the door to share with them the greatest message of hope - Jesus Christ.