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Building One Another  

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. I Thessalonians 5:11

Friends of the Heart!

Dear Friend,

People tend to have fewer close friends than just ten or twenty years ago, yet friends offer both joy and support to our daily lives.

Consider two kinds of friends:  friends of the road and friends of the heart.

A friend of the road is a friend who walks life’s road with you. You are next door neighbors or work in the same office or attend the same school or church. They are true friends, however, when the road ends and one of you leaves the place you shared life, the friendship of the road slowly vanishes.

On the other hand, at times a chemistry, a unique bond, forms in a friendship such that when the road ends, the friendship continues, a friendship of love and for life. Such friendships are friendships of the heart.

It makes no difference if you are 10,000 miles apart or haven’t seen one another for years, were you to get together, it would be as though no time had passed.  

”The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” I Samuel 18:1

Ask the Lord who loves you to give you as many friends of the road as possible, for they are true friends, while also asking your Lord to move many of those friends off of the road and into the heart!

Remember, your dearest friend of the heart is Jesus, who said, “I have called you friends.”

Joy to you – Stan

© Copyright 2022 E. Stanley Ott

Scripture from the ESV

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1. Remembering that both friends of the road and friends of the heart are real friends, who are your present friends, both locally and far away?
2. Do you have friends of the road you would like to see grow into friends of the heart? How might you help that progress?
3. Are you keeping in contact with your friends of the heart. See Episode 120 of Building One Another for some tips in doing that.

Photo by Noorulabdeen Ahmad on Unsplash