When Friendship Hurts | Week 3

Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. - Ephesians 4:32

If you haven’t figured it out already, you will soon: friendship hurts. Jesus is perfect, but people are not. Having friends isn’t always rainbows and butterflies. You will have really good friendships with people who mess up, hurt you, or hurt others. When this happens, most of the time we cut off the friendship altogether. We rarely forgive and move forward with these friendships in today’s culture. 

Just look at our world - it seems like we are looking for reasons to disconnect ourselves from our friends. It happens everyday in the news. 

More and more, Forgiveness is a counter-cultural act of obedience to Jesus. If you want to have a deep friendship that lasts, you need to learn how to forgive. 

The Apostle Paul calls for people in the church of Ephesus to forgive one another as God through Christ has forgiven you. Jesus has forgiven us for the times that we have failed in friendship with him. In fact, his forgiveness is the only reason you and I can have a relationship with God. 

Our friendships will be tested. If we are willing to forgive, we will see the fruit of our friendships exceed our expectations. Our friendships will be stories of the faithfulness of Jesus in our lives. 

Reflection Questions: 

1. Who do you need to forgive? What friendship have you cut off because you were not willing to forgive? 

2. Who do you need to ask forgiveness from? What will that look like and how will that move your friendship forward?