What Mattered to Jesus: Relationships

Who are your best friends? How did they become great? Why do they matter? How have they influenced you? This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

Friends Affect our Health Good friends are good for your health. Friends can help you celebrate good times and provide support during bad times. Friends prevent loneliness and give you a chance to offer needed companionship, too. Friends can also: Increase your sense of belonging and purpose Boost your happiness and reduce your stress Improve your self-confidence and self-worth Help you cope with traumas, such as divorce, serious illness, job loss or the death of a loved one Encourage you to change or avoid unhealthy lifestyle habits. Adults with strong social support have a reduced risk of many significant health problems, including depression, high blood pressure and an unhealthy body mass index (BMI). Studies have even found that older adults with a rich social life are likely to live longer than their peers with fewer connections. According to “Live Science” (Jan 2016) a study of 2000 participants in the Netherlands indicated that mature adults with friends suffered from dementia 3 times less often than those who had no friends.

Friendship is what makes life worth living. Quotes on Friendship: "No distance or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of people who believe in each other's worth." "A man's friendships are one of the best measures of his worth." "Since there is nothing so well worth having as friends, never lose a chance to make them."

John 15 Friendship with Jesus is what creates connection with him. Without friendship he is just a wise teacher or an interesting historical figure…separated from us by time and distance, unable to move in our midst.

Friends… Because life is hard enough.