Community pt 2

It seems like you can't talk about friendship and intimacy with other people without someone in the crowd bringing up some story of their long lost friend who betrayed their trust, hurt their feelings, and crushed their soul so badly they just can't put their heart out there again. I think everyone has a story of a friend that either hurt them, or you just drifted apart when you thought you would be friends for life. Proverbs teaches us that as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens his friend. We all like that verse. You hear it every time there is a push at church for a cell group meeting or some fellowship event. We all like that verse, until it starts happening in our lives. Iron doesn't sharpen iron by being gentle. The only way that iron will be sharpened if it is rubbed the wrong way. Relationships aren't always supposed to be gentle and comforting. Sometimes, a friend will tell you the truth when it hurts. Sometimes, they have this one little annoying trait that just drives you up the wall. Sometimes, they will let you down, breach your confidence, or hurt your feelings.  It's naive on our post to assume any different. Expecting to not be hurt in a relationship is holding your friend to a standard you won't even meet. If we are ever going to reap the benefits of relationships, we have to be willing to sow a little love and forgiveness when it is tough. Otherwise, you get so caught up in your own bitterness you lose sight of what matters. Here's the point: relationships aren't disposable. When you remember that people aren't a commodity you throw away when it doesn't suit you, and when you choose to focus on all the times they were there for you instead of the one they let you down, you set your self up to experience the benefits of friendship. Keep your focus in the right place and don't allow bitterness over your past steal the joy you could have in your present.