How to nourish friendships

There are many ways one can nourish and enhance a friendship. These are just a few suggestions given by loyal friends: * permit your friends to be themselves, * give each other space, * be ready to give and to receive, * make your advice constructive, * be loyal, * give praise and encouragement, * be honest, * treat your friends as equals, * trust your friends, * be willing to risk.
On the other hand, if you do these things, you will certainly lose many friends: be grumpy, be undependable, * exaggerate often, * be bossy, * be sarcastic, * criticize often, * be dominating, * act superior to others.
Prayer for friendship: God, why is it so hard to get close to people, to let people get close to me, to make friends? Is it because I’ve been hurt before and am afraid to be vulnerable again? Is it because I think others will take advantage of my openness? Your Son had 12 close friends. One sold Him for 30 pieces of silver. Another denied that he ever knew Him. The rest ran away when He needed them most. Jesus even predicted these things – yet He didn’t shut Himself off from friendship. Make me willing to take the risk, too. Help me to realize that, ultimately, in opening to another human being we are opening ourselves to You. Amen.