We all need friends, even those of us that are comfortable with our own company. We were created to have relationships with others, and friends help us feel emotionally happy and socially fulfilled.
September is Friendship month. It gives us an opportunity to think about and celebrate our friends, and realise what a precious relationship we have with them. Also to think about who our new friends might be. Take a moment to offer a smile or pass a kind word with someone you see frequently but who maybe you have never spoken to.
A lot of things change in life, but one thing that never goes away or loses its importance is friendship. The time we spend with friends is vitally important, maybe even more so as we grow older, so we need to cherish and protect it.
Why not use this month to get back in touch with people who you used to be friends with, but now have lost touch with?
We need friends, because we’re going to go through some things on this earth that we cannot endure alone, and friends stick with you through the hard times.
And the good news is, that there is a friend we can all have, who is reliable and will always be there for us. In John’s Gospel we are told 'greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.’ - Jesus, the definition of a good friend.
Remember the hymn ‘What a friend we have in Jesus all our griefs and sorrows bear’………...Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.
Maybe this month is a good one to seek out this Friend who will never let us down!