Interacting With Others is Good for You — Morning Devotions

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Transcript

I can remember the simple statement I read somewhere, Life is better with people who care. I wonder if you could give this some thought this morning.

As a child, when your birthday gets closer, your mother may have written up a list of your special friends, maybe those at school who are your friends, and they’ll be invited to your party, and hopefully it was a, a happy, fun-filled event. Certainly it was preferable to no one turning up to help you celebrate. What kind of birthday would that likely to be? A non-event causing misery and unhappy memories, that’s for sure.

We tend to remember pleasurable events when surrounded by people who love and care for us. Life is better with people who love and care for us, no matter our age. We need friends who do believe in us, especially during the hard times.

Not like the two friends who went camping for the weekend. The first night was quite peaceful. They woke up the next morning ready for their adventure. As they enjoyed their morning coffee, they spotted a very large and hungry, grizzly bear coming at them. One of the men quickly pulled on his running shoes. Do you actually think you can outrun that bear? And his friend said, I don’t need to. All I have to do is outrun you. Who needs friends like this? Genuine friendship means sticking together no matter what.

A good friend is rare and finding them isn’t that easy.

You may have a lot of friends, but it’s the real friends who stand out during the difficult times. Perhaps you know how devastating it is to face life alone. It was Albert Schweitzer who once said, Sometimes our light goes out but is blown again into instant flame by an encounter with another human being. Research has shown that social interactions are essential for our well-being and happiness, even everyday things like eating, drinking, walking, running, or playing games.

You have probably noticed how much happier you instantly feel after an interaction with a close friend or family member. Even reading a book in a book club provides higher levels of happiness than staying at home alone reading a book. Nicholas Epley, a professor at the University of Chicago, has written in the Washington Post, You only learn from the experiences you have and not from the experiences you don’t have.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? He was saying you should take as many opportunities as you can to engage with others everywhere you can find them. One reason we need to have some friends is this :

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One day your life is not going to work out. Something is going to happen, and the bottom will fall out of your world, and you’ll need to reach out for help. You will need emotional and spiritual support, and that special friend will help you through the darkness, even if it’s just to get another point of view.

But if you choose to do life on your own, you’ll be more vulnerable to the negative consequences of what happens. The Bible says a number of times that two are better than one. I think of three reasons that stop genuine friendships from developing.

So you need to trust God that He will help you make a meaningful connection with someone, even if it’s one person, who will be your friend. Jesus said we are to love one another just as He loved us. Jesus came to earth to bring salvation and a way to happiness and fulfilment, and He will do that mainly through others.

If we’re open to be involved and participate in that, even if it means taking a risk, we’re not designed to live hidden, isolated or self-sufficient lives. God created us for connection with him and with each other.

Let’s Pray

Lord, I need to understand today and every day that interacting with others is good for me, even if I don’t particularly want to or if I feel inferior. There are people out there who need me, and I need them. Help me to be honest and open, to bring other people into my life so that your love can shine through them. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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