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Building Sunset Friendships


As the generations ahead of mine reach the sunset years, I've witnessed their need for friendship at this stage of life- real, true friendship. But these friendships aren't easily built during later years; we must invest in them now. 

 I want to take seriously the friendships in my life. But how? Again God's Word provides insight for this: A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity. (Proverbs 17:17). To be always loving is a high standard: Love is patient. Love is kind. Love does not envy. Love does not boast. Love is not arrogant. Love is not rude. Love does not insist on its own way. Love is not irritable. Love does not keep a record of wrongs. Love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices with the truth. 
Love bears all things. Love believes all things. Love hopes all things. Love endures all things.(From 1 Corinthians 13:3-4)

 Needless to say, maintaining a friendship takes work. And requires a lot of prayer. I write this post because the Lord is convicting me. I'm not a good friend. He's shown me the importance of friendship, and I am taking small steps towards this.

 Ponder this- Who are the friends you forsee growing old with? How could you be a better friend? 

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Comments

  1. ElaineJuly 17, 2015 at 4:40 PM

    I have pondered this issue as I have grown older. When we are younger we forge friendships in school or college, and then during the heady days of marriage and having babies. We didn't know what we were doing but we had each other! Now, my dear friends of those days have moved away, and though we keep in touch and see each other infrequently, I have few dear Friends near by. And new friendships are meeting different needs and desires in my life, and they are not as intense as when I was younger. Add to that, as we age, we have less energy to invest in a lot of friends! So I am left with few friends, and I am strangely OK with that. But should I be? I do not know, and so I ponder...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Carole RuffinJuly 17, 2015 at 5:14 PM

    Great point! Perhaps " sunset friendship " refers more to the depth of friendship than the quantity of friends.

    ReplyDelete

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