Relationships are Make or Break (Prov. 1)

Here’s Proverbs One if you’d like to read it first!

Last week, I shared an invitation to jump into Proverbs together. You can dive a little deeper by reading one chapter each week to give you some context for the discussion below, or you can jump right in. I hope you’re encouraged to get a little deeper every week!

For those of you who caught last week’s post and my invitation to jump into Proverbs, let’s jump right in with a question about the homework I gave you.

{If you didn’t catch last week’s email… don’t worry! Jump in anyway!!!}

So…Homework? What homework, you ask? 

Well, I asked you to take a gander at Proverbs 1, and I asked you one more thing — bring a friend. Let someone join you on your journey toward deeper faith. That homework is strategic!

How did you do with that? Got a co-runner for your faith marathon?

Here’s why I’m asking. While we visited my sister’s family in Colorado a few years ago, my brother-in-law shared some crazy statistics in his Sunday morning sermon. (These impressive stats came from Vital Friends (by Tom Rath in case you want to check that one out. I haven’t read it so I make no promises.)

Here is a little sampling of what my brother-from-another-mother shared:

• If your best friend eats healthily, you are five times more likely to have a healthy diet yourself.
• Married people say friendship is more than five times as important as physical intimacy within marriage.
• Those who say they have no real friends at work have only a one in 12 chance of feeling engaged in their job.
• Conversely, if a person has a “best friend at work”, he or she is seven times more likely to feel engaged in his/her job. 

Long story short… Proverbs jumps right in by asking who you’re hanging out with and warning you to be careful in the choices you make.

You’re also invited to soak deep into the wisdom of God instead of drinking from fountains of foolishness. (Let’s be honest, if we spend much time on Facebook, we know there are plenty of fountains of foolishness available to drink from.)

Now, after asking yourself a question about who your people are, I’m going to add on one more.

How honest are you with your person or people? Are you saying “I’m fine” when you’re anything but? Are there deeper issues that you know are lurking somewhere beneath the surface, but you’re afraid to speak up?

I once had an incredibly wise and wonderful mentor, many moons ago in Scotland, who said that you can be honest, or you can be more honest, or you can be “most honest.”

I’m not going to plead with you to be most honest with a stranger in line at the grocery store, but I am going to encourage you to be most honest with someone. If you have a spouse, I think that’d be an ideal person. A parent. A trusted friend. A pastor. A counselor.

As we continue walking through Proverbs, the wisdom you find may uncover some things in your soul that you haven’t truly dealt with. The hindrances that keep us from running our race well are so much more often internal than external.

If you have that person you can be most honest with, do your best to be most honest with them. Especially if you find yourself challenged to let go of something, step into something, or deal with something as our journey through Proverbs continues. The enemy of your soul would love to grab that seed before it has a chance to take root in your heart. So find that trusted person, and aim at most honest whenever possible. 

Have you ever noticed how much more often you remember something if you tell someone else about it? Share what you’re learning, and somehow it seems to stick to your own soul a little better.

I love that blessed old African proverb:

If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

We’ve got a long race ahead of us, friends. For the glory of God, we simply have to do it together.

xCC

Now… write down a thought. Talk with Jesus about your friends and whether you’re being most honest. I’d love to have some “guest readers” sharing something Proverbs spoke to them — so feel free to share something you’re learning on the With Love, From Here Facebook page or shoot me a message. I’d love for this to be  a two-way conversation!

***
I hope you’re encouraged today, friend.
If so, I’d love to welcome you to subscribe here for a weekly dose of encouragement. Join me on this journey through Proverbs and never miss a post! I’d also love to welcome you to share this email with a friend and ask them to join you on a walk through Proverbs. We’re just looking at one chapter a week together — slow and steady, moving out into deeper waters.
***

One little update from the Collie corner: We celebrated Blake’s 9th Birthday this week. I can’t thank you friends enough for your prayers. He’s doing so incredibly well and I am so incredibly grateful! Please continue praying for the restoration of his left field of vision (20/20 in 2020!) and the complete healing of his short term memory. He’s doing so, so well, friends. It is a joy to tell you that! Raise a Hallelujah!