5 Tips for Making Friends and Keeping Them

I have one of the best friends in the entire world. God saw fit to bless me with a lady who challenges me and urges me to be a better me — all the time. I cannot imagine life without her.

It’s funny, because I never considered myself a great friend until I met her. I’ve learned a few things over the course of the last year so I thought I would share with you my 5 tips for making friends and keeping them.

1. Be Real: No one wants a fake friend. Be real with each other. If you are struggling, ask her to pray with you. Share your struggles. You never know what door that might open for you. In fact, with Michele and I — when we share our weeks with each other, we find out that we usually both are going through something similar. We are able to pull strength from each other seeing how we go through the process.
2. Don’t Make it All About You: This is something that I am learning. I have always had a hard time of just listening. I talk WAY more than I listen, but God is showing me that listening is more important than getting my ideas across. So make sure that you listen to your friend when she needs to talk. Ask her about what is going on with her. Let her talk and don’t overstep with your words.
3. No gossiping: I don’t intentionally gossip or try to, but every now and then something will start to slip and Michele is quick to plug her ears and make noises and remind me that we need to NOT do that. We have so much more we can talk about, so she is teaching me to watch what I say and how I say it 🙂
4. Spend time laughing:As a friend, one of the most important things you can do to sustain a happy and fun friendship is LAUGH. Watch a movie together, craft together, go shopping together at Hobby Lobby — you name it, go do it. Just have fun and laugh a lot in the process.
5. Don’t be afraid to speak up: Regardless of what you are doing, a friend is not a true friend if she does not help you to be a better person. I was doing something once that was not uplifting to my husband and after much prayer, Michele approached me on it. She, in love, shared her heart with me about the situation and how she felt it was a negative outlook, and I knew she was right because God was dealing with me already on it. I received her correction, thanked her for having the guts to say something to me about it and then we prayed for each other. If you are a friend, be a true friend to the end.

Jesus is the best friend anyone can have, but ladies — we also need a fleshly female friend to draw strength from as well. Let God show you today who you can grow close to and then find ways to become the best of friends.