Connections by First Southern Baptist Church

October 27, 2024

“A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” ~ Proverbs 18:24 (NIV) ~

BEST FRIEND

Henry Ford once asked a question of a business associate: “Who’s your best friend?” The man named a few people he was close to, and Ford stopped him. “No,” he said, “I’ll tell you who your best friend is. Your best friend is he who brings out the best in you.”

In this sense, all of us who know Christ as Savior and Lord are called to be best friends. Solomon said, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” ~ Proverbs 27:17 (NIV) ~

We need to look for ways to bring out the best in others. Here are the two ways you can do it:

1. Tell Others What They Do Well.

Many people aren’t aware of their strengths. They know if they can play guitar or build a bookshelf but they often don’t know about their intangible strengths. So, tell others what you see in them: “You know how to put others at ease.” “You’re good at expressing yourself.” “You listen well.” “You’re dependable.” And so on.

2. Tell Others What They Can Do Better.

It’s probably best to limit this to people you lead or people who specifically ask for your input. Instead of telling someone what they do wrong, tell them what they can do better. This is more than semantics and it’s not just about being Mr. Positive. Most people can identify what they did wrong but can’t put their finger exactly on what they need to do better.

with Pastor Terrell

We sometimes ask Website experts to give us an “honest evaluation” of our First Southern website. (Yes, we do have a website that we think you should check out from time to time.) But back to the professionals. It would be easy for them to say, “Your site is ugly. Your site is slow. Your site is impossible to navigate.” But their clients including us probably already know that. What their clients or friends need to know is how they can make it prettier, faster, and more user-friendly. They need to know what they can do better. Insults don’t help. They need advice they can put into practice.

Telling an employee or a child that he’s disorganized isn’t really helpful. It’s not even informative he already knows he’s disorganized. He needs a clue about how he can get his organizational act together.

Afew months ago, I was talking with a group of pastors online. The topic of the day was productivity. This bit of advice was given by one pastor in the group: “Get all this clutter off your desk, even if you do nothing more than move it to a table. Work at a clean desk. Clean your desk before you leave each day, then put tomorrow’s work on the desk so that it’s waiting for you when you come to the office. You’ll have less distractions if you start each day and end each day with a clean desk.”

Probably, in the back of mind, I already knew I should do what he was suggesting. But his words somehow empowered me to go ahead and do it.

This is how we sharpen one another: through encouragement and gentle recommendations. In this way, we can be the best friends that other people have.

Blessings on your week. Take some time to think about what kind of friend you are being to those you call “friend.” Are you in a sharpening relationship with any of them? If so, great. If not, take some steps forward in at least one relationship with a friend right now. I am looking forward to seeing you in Worship this Sunday morning. I will be beginning a new sermon series I am calling IMMOVABLE. We will discover that it is possible to develop character qualities that will contribute to a life of stability even in an unstable world. This week will be THE CHAOS WE CREATE.

Pastor Terrell

P.S. Just in case you need the web address, our First Southern URL is https://www.firstsouthernpv.org.

P.P.S. I’ve gotta run now. I need to get back to decluttering my desk!