The David Spoon Experience 10-31-22 Part 2

1) Friends are there to help. For the unlearned (BTW…that’s not the uneducated, that’s the people that won’t allow the truth into their lives) think that friends are not important. I guess that is why there must be more than 60 references in the Bible. Proverbs 18:24b states, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. And the highest compliment on the universe is t be a “friend of God.” That’s one of the reasons we admire Abe. 2) Comforting and consoling. Much like everybody who is a Christian, the first thing we want to do is be genuinely helpful. Cool. That is Jesus-like. But the next thing we do is try to solve the problem for the person. Guess what? YOU cannot do that. And I cannot do that. And WE should not do that. God can do that. But that is because He actually has the right answers. Sometimes, the best thing to do is just sit there and listen and share the grief. That is true friendship. 3) Sharing the grief cannot be artificial. It has to be authentic. It does not have to be words, but it often has to be some form of presence. A true friend, a Christian friend, a carrier of burdens, knows that their friend may be beaten up and look brutalized. But instead of pointing out the obvious, a friend cares enough to say nothing. Silence is powerful.