June 11, 2010
Building Strong Friendships in Christ
Making Mention of You Today
“We give thanks to God always for all of you,
making mention of you in our prayers”
1 Thessalonians 1:2
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God intends for us to give thanks for our friends in Christ. Giving thanks obviously means you have something to be thankful about. Do you think about your friends in Christ as people you thank God for placing in your life? Paul taught us that we should be very careful to give thanks to God for our friends in Christ, always making mention of them in our prayers.
How we view our friends in Christ makes a lot of difference in our lives. Do we focus upon the good in them and never see the bad? Do we stare at the bad, and never see the good? What are we looking at with our mind’s eye? In order for us to be thankful to God for our friends, we must notice things about them that God has produced in their lives. God works constantly in the lives of our friends in Christ, and we should be very careful to observe those things and thank God for His activity in the lives of people in Christ we love.
Not only must we notice the things God is doing in the lives of our friends in Christ, be we must also take time to thank God constantly for those things. As you begin to thank God in your prayers for your friends in Christ, you will see that you may run out of things quickly. God is working in your friends, but are you looking with spiritual eyes to observe spiritual activity? If so, are you looking every day? Paul looked all the time and thanked God for God’s work in the lives of his friends in Christ.
Finally, be sure to tell your friends that you are praying for them constantly, but do not lie. If you are not praying for them, skip telling them until you start praying for them. But, start today to pray and thank God for the friends you have in Christ. Do you have friends today who are telling you that they pray for you all the time and thank God constantly for them? If you want to obey the command of Christ to make disciples of all the nations, starting where you live, then be sure to constantly make mention of your friends in your prayers, thanking God for them, and then letting your friends know that you thank God for them and their friendship with you and God.
Application for Today
Today I will take time to thank God for my friends in Christ and let my friends know that I mention them constantly in my prayers. I thank God that He has blessed me with friends in Christ who love Jesus and spread that love to other people, including me.
