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Friendships that bless
How to mend a friendship, how to be a better friend, or how to find friends—these are things we can go to our Father-Mother God with in prayer. Relationships can be complicated, it seems. But we can pray about how to have more loving relationships, because God Herself is Love.
Instead of praying in an attempt to find friends, we can turn to God completely and better understand what God is. “God is love,” the Bible’s book of First John says (4:16). Therefore, Love always is, always was, and always will be. The Bible also talks about our indestructible relation to God as Her children (see, for example, Galatians 3:26), and Christ Jesus came to show the world that we live in Love’s presence and care. A clear understanding of God as Love—and of the spiritual fact that our relation to divine Love is intact—is a constant prayer that brings peace and healing to all areas of our experience, because while circumstances change, divine Love is permanent. Love loves. Love shows us that we can love and are loved. When we see that we are divinely loved, we no longer feel that we need popularity, personal validation, or the presence of others to feel OK. In prayer, a clearer view of our relation to God as Her spiritual child enables us to understand that God brings Her ideas together in ways that bless.
A Christian Scientist I know became a single parent after his marriage ended. Parenting and full-time work consumed him, and he didn’t really have any social life. Although he wanted companionship, he only worked and came home and never did anything social. But these apparent obstacles to finding friends did not faze him. What impressed me was his thought. There was no doubt in his mind that God, as Love, is ever-present good. He knew he could expect goodness and blessings because they come from God, and God’s blessings are truly always present.
Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.
July 27, 2020 issue
View Issue-
From the readers
Susan Lapointe, Rodney Jones
Articles
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A more generous view of home
Name Withheld
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A pilot’s prayers during the pandemic
Brandon Jones
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To combat divisive thinking, consider Jonah
Theodore S. Arrington
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Christ brings us home
Kurt Hochstein
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Friendships that bless
Elaina Simpson
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Let’s help the world by living the Golden Rule
Clementine Lue Clark
Testimonies of healing
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Quickly healed after near-fatal fall
Rob Hummel with contributions from Marguerite Becker
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Employment found through God’s guidance
Joy Rae-Hughes
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A firm stand for Truth brings rapid healing
Kathleen M. Mitchener
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'Henceforth my heart shall sigh no more ...'
Robin Matteson
Editorial
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“Small rain” prayer
Linda Kohler
- Bible Lens—July 27–August 2, 2020