Episode Seventeen: Friends

Hello everybody! We hope you had a great Star Wars Day. May the Fourth be with You! This week's episode is about friendships. We hope that if you're experiencing this in your life, you can use this episode to help guide you through it. Hope you enjoy!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome to the Purpose Podcast. I'm your host, Gabe. And I'm your co-host, Josh. And you guys are going to be seeing this on May the 5th. And I hope you have had a great Star Wars day.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

I hope the fourth was with you guys.

SPEAKER_01 0:17

And I I hope in the future this becomes a holiday, like a federal holiday.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

I thought this is one of them days that you just need off.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

We need off so we can watch every single Star Wars movie. Yes. In chronological order.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Yes. Like one, two, three, and on. Unless you haven't seen it before, then I recommend watching the originals first. You know. Four, five, and six. Yes. And then going back to one, two, and three. And then going back the the way the way they came out.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

Yeah. If you're like us and you've seen each one a bit a bajillion times, do one, two, and three.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

Yeah, start off with those. But today's topic is about friends. And not the show.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

I was about to start singing I'll be there for you.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

Yeah, not that. But we could, but we're not. We can give you the whole rundown of the show.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

We're gonna we're on a break with the show, if you get the reference. Um but we're gonna talk about friends and our spiritual friends.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Yes. So one of the things you gotta think about when you think of friends is what makes a real friend. And a real friend is someone that you can tell truth, um, someone who loves faithfully, helps grow your relationship with God, and they stay with you through the thick and thin. And in Proverbs 17, 17, it says, A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Frank friendships are always for the fun, easy, and beneficial times, but real friends are there for the you know the confusion, hurting, and struggling times. In Proverbs 27, 6 it says, Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Or deceitful, my bad. I ain't got my glasses on, so my bad. Friends are supposed to tell us the truth, even when it's uncomfortable. In other words, friends aren't supposed to tell you what you want to hear. They have to care enough to warn, correct, and help you become a better, a better person. True friends push you towards discipline, faith, wisdom, and purpose. Also, it says in Proverbs 27:17, iron sharpeneth iron, so man sharpen the countenance of his friend. They should not lead you astray from the kingdom of God. Friendships mirror our fluorationships because they're supposed to be sacrificial in other aspects. It can't be it needs it needs to be about our it can be about our selfish and fake desires, but instead this should exemplify loyalty, honesty, forgiveness, and action. In your opinion, what makes a real friend, Josh?

SPEAKER_00 3:25

Um well, I agree with everything you said, but um, you know, someone that's gonna be there for you, um, they're gonna be there with you through the good and the bad. They're not gonna leave you when something bad happens to you. Um they're gonna give you their honesty. You know, um a real friend isn't gonna let you go out into the world and embarrass yourself. A real friend is gonna tell you, hey, you don't need to do this, you don't need to say this, you don't need to wear this, you don't need to go here. A real friend is gonna give you the honest truth because they love you and they want what's best for you. And um it might seem like, oh, they don't want me to have fun, or they're trying to tell me not to do this so they look better. That's not the case. Um a true friend loves you enough to um let you know, let you know the truth, and um, they're also gonna encourage you to live your life like you should. A real friend's gonna encourage you to um spend more time with God. And um I was reading Proverbs 1824. It says, a man who has friends must must myself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. So, like I said at the beginning, you know, they're they're not gonna leave you through the good and the bad. They're gonna stick with you. Um, I know a lot of times you go through something bad, and um, you know, you're who you call your friends, they're the ones to scatter. But you're always gonna have that one friend who's gonna stick with you. They're gonna walk through the fire with you, they're gonna pray for you, they're gonna love you, and um, they want what's best for you, even though you might not think it's the best for you, it really is. And I'll I would keep that friend, that person in your life that treats you like that. And um, and then like you said, Proverbs 27:17, as iron sharpens iron. So a man sharpens the um countenance of his friend, you know, um we're here to build each other up, you know, we're here to stick with each other, um build each other up, um, build each other up in our appearance, our spiritual appearance, our physical appearance, our mental appearance. And um, to me, that's what makes it a real friend.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

Yeah, a lot of times we see a lot of friends, and the honor of other friends is gives something that benefits them. Like the only way they talk to you is if they want something, if they need, if they need you. Not if that they just want to have a conversation with you, it's because you have something they need. And we see that a lot with friendships these days, right? And you kind of pick out the fake ones that way also. But that also leads into you know where lifelong friendships and what are seasonal friendships. And seasonal friends are people who God thou in your life for a certain period of time. And you know, this doesn't always mean that they're gonna be bad friends because certain friends are only meant to be in certain chapters of your life and not your full story. The Bible says that there's a season for everything and a time to every purpose under heaven. I think this can apply to our friendships also. Some of our connections aren't supposed to last forever. These friendships can be positive by helping us grow, teach us new things, encourage us, and reveal things about us. But when the time comes, the relationship will naturally fade away. But lifelong friends are people who stay faithful through every season, and they continue to help us grow in our faith. They aren't just connected to our popularity or success, they will point you back to God and correct you when you're wrong and celebrate your wins. Seasonal friends may be tied where you are, present during comfort, and support your current versions. But lifelong friends are tied to who you're becoming, they stay during adversity, and they sharpen your character. Here's what you can remember don't hate someone because that season ended. Do not force someone to stay if God made that friendship for a certain chapter in your life. Some friendships end due to betrayal, others because they are complete. And that goes back to not every friendship is bad. Seasonal friends bless chapters in your life while lifelong friends build stories for your life. Or build the full story for your life.

SPEAKER_00 8:58

I like what you said there, and um I really liked how you talked about um how some friends they only want something from you because I I know I've seen that a lot in my life. Um especially in high school, you know, um my motto was always go big or go home in high school. So, you know, when it came down to things like homecoming or um dress up days or anything like that, you know, people would want to talk to you, people would want to be your friends, they would want your help building the homecoming float, they would want your ideas when it came to dress up days. And then after the homecoming season ended, you know, they would go back to doing their own thing, like and they would pass you in the hallways, um, they wouldn't speak to you or anything. And um, so some people, some of your friends that you call friends, they only want something from you that will make them look good, that'll benefit them. And um also um, you know, schoolwork, um certain people will only talk to you, they'll only want to be your friends while you're doing school, and then you get done with school and you never see them again, um, because you have something that they know will benefit you. And um, but seasons come and go, and not everybody is um stays in your life forever. Um, it can be sad, it can be really sad, especially when you get close to them. But um just like the seasons in real life change, um, so do your friends. And um sometimes it's good sometimes it's for the better, you know. Maybe some of the friends that you had that was putting a negative impact on your life that was causing you to do things that you don't normally do, that was causing you to um go away from God's presence. And um, you know, they was there for a season, they was there to help build your testimony. Um and then there's other seasonal friends who are there um to comfort you, you know, whenever you go through a trial, you know, they're there for you. And um, hopefully when you get out for um trial, uh when you get out of the fire, you know, they was there to comfort you, comfort you during during that season. And there's also lifelong friends, and um, that's what I pray for all the time as a lifelong friend. And um, you know, they're there to help you during your good times, your bad times, the times you're celebrating, the times you're grieving. Um they're there to build you up and to um keep you keep you ground grounded in the world because it's so easy to um get out into the world. So it's always important to have a lifelong friend who's gonna be there no matter what season you're in in your life, they're always gonna be there. And um Daniel chapter 2, verse 27 says, and he changes the times and the seasons, and he removes kings and raises up kings, and he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. So not everything, some things will be lifelong, some things are only seasonal. Um so you just have to um determine, you know, who is seasonal in my life and who is lifelong. And um, it's very important that you know the difference between your seasonal friends and your lifelong friends.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

You know, like if you have bad friends, they might be putting that season so you can understand what a real friend is. Like you you'll know that they're not true to you, and you know that you want something better in your life. But you have to you have to have the knowledge of what you want, what a true friend is, so you can understand, like okay, I I might need to kind of remove this person from my life so I can grow. Because sometimes bad friends can hold you down from what you're supposed to be, and that's why you have to understand the impacts of friendships on your future. Friendships shape our future more than what we think. Not only do they affect our social lives, but they also inflect our mindsets, decisions, opportunities, and long-term success. People that you spend the most time with set the equitations normal in your life. If your friends are focused and disciplined, then you'll be you'll more than likely match that energy. And it goes for the same, but the opposite side of that. Friends can impact our weekends, how we spend money, handle stress, how we take goals seriously. And all these choices shape our character, finances, health, and careers. You know, jobs and connections also come out of your friendships. The right friends can open doors that you didn't know that you had a key to. While bad friends can limit your exposure and keep you locked out of that room. Supportive friends build our confidence that leads to peace in our lives. Toxic friends create stress and distraction from them from our main goals. These are important when your mental state directly affects how you perform in your every area of life. They're also supposed to challenge you to be the best you. They call you out when you're slipping and push you towards personal growth. They aren't supposed to prioritize comfort. This is why it's important to choose your friends wisely. You adopt habits, beliefs, and attitudes of your closest friends, and this this shapes who you will become. How you think, what you value, and what you pursue. That's the impacts. That's what I think are the impacts of your friendships on your future. What's some what's some ideas that you got from this topic, Josh?

SPEAKER_00 15:55

Um friendships definitely do have an impact. Um some for the good, some for the bad, you know. Um bad friendships, um, they can start off with getting you doing stuff that you know you shouldn't be doing, and then it leads to chaos, you know. That friend that you say is your friend, you know, they might say, Oh, this is just a little pill, and then eventually you're hooked on pills for the rest of your life.

SPEAKER_01 16:30

Or even if it was alcohol, like, hey, take this one sip. You know, it's it's only one sip, and it ends up being a gateway to you being a drunk.

SPEAKER_00 16:37

Yeah. And those kind of friends can negatively impact your future because not only are you putting your own self at risk, but you're putting your future career at risk. You're putting your family at risk. If you have kids, if you have a spouse, you're putting them at risk. Um, you're putting your own life at risk. And um, there's also friends that um they have a positive impact on your life. You know, they're gonna be the ones that um tell you what not to do and why you shouldn't do this. Um, they're gonna be the friends that lead you closer to God, and um, you know, they're gonna be the ones that invite you to church. Um, they're gonna support you no matter what you do, no matter what career path you want to go down. They're gonna be sitting back cheering for you. Um they're gonna be supporting you and your family one day. Um, you know, certain friends, you know, they can they can last a lifetime and they can bring positive influences into your life. They can um they can bring inspiration to your family. Um, you know, it's they can they can impact your future in so many ways. And um, you know, they can help find your spouse, they can help with your finances, you know, it goes on and on. There's so many good things that good people can help, but you also have to be careful for the bad people because that one sip of alcohol they want you to drink, or that one pill they want you to swallow, you know, that's a gateway to a bad life.

SPEAKER_01 18:28

And one thing that I kind of thought of like in the last like five minutes, you know, like when somebody says, if somebody tells you to jump off of something, would you do it? How about you have a friend? So if somebody says, if your friend told you to do such, such such, would you do it? Why don't you have a friend that you can trust that wouldn't put you into situations to where when somebody asks you that, you can be like, yeah, if he asked me to do it, I would do it.

SPEAKER_00 18:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:57

You know, like it's just you gotta have a friendship that you can trust. Another thing is I I realized that a lot of our verses today came out of Proverbs. And I've heard people say that that they they'll have a Bible study on every single book of the Bible but Proverbs, because the Proverbs calls them out. So I thought that was I thought that was a little funny there.

SPEAKER_00 19:28

I think there's another verse from Proverbs. I I can't remember it off the top of my head, but it says something about a sweet friendship, um, refreshes the soul, or something like that. And um, so it's good when you're picking out friends to keep that Bible verse in mind.

SPEAKER_01 19:48

It is. The the whole moral of today's episode is you know, to always choose wisely with your friends because you don't know you don't know how a certain person is going to affect your life until you get into it. So you kind of need to kind of need to look at how their lifestyle is. But some choices they've made. Who they hang around, what do they do on the weekends, you know, is this there's a lot of stuff that that different aspects of somebody's life that you can gauge to choose whether or not that that person is right for you in your life. And the right friend is gonna be one of the biggest blessings that you can have.

SPEAKER_00 20:49

I agree to that.

SPEAKER_01 20:53

But that's gonna be it for today's episode. Make sure if you're on YouTube, go follow us on Apple. If you're Apple, I we might need to get Spotify at some point, you know. You know, who knows? It may come. But if you're on Apple, make sure you go like and subscribe on YouTube. Go follow us on our socials. Tune in next week. Don't know what it's gonna be about yet, but I'm sure it'll be a good one. Remember, keep seeking your purpose.