The Garden of Friendship - Unto edification

Time to spruce up those gardens again! One of the things that is very important in a Christian friendship is that each individual is committed to edifying the other! The American Heritage Dictionary defines edify: To instruct especially so as to encourage intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement.

It is wonderful to enjoy your friends, to have long conversations and to do fun things together, but our friendships as women of God should have a deeper purpose ...

...to build up and encourage in the things of the Lord.

Here are some Scriptures on that very subject. I'm using the NKJV here:

"Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers." Eph 4:29

"Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another." Romans 14:19

"... Let all things be done for edification." I Cor 14:26

Of course, our favorite verse fits in here so well. Philippians 4:8 "Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy -- meditate on these things."

I think that if we are with our friends, and we are careful to speak of and focus on things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praiseworthy, that we will speak unto edification -- will we not? If we are consistently meditating on these things, we will surely speak of them.

Just a reminder for all of us - yes, me too - to think about.

Meditate on These Things

Welcome to The Girl Inside blog. This is the first of what I hope will be many articles. As I said in my introduction, I hope not to be the only one contributing to this blog as I have many people in mind that I will ask to share. Maybe you are one of them!

In my next few articles, I want to focus on the theme verse of The Girl Inside. I have this scripture framed and hanging in my upstairs bathroom. I love this verse because it packages so many truths into one short paragraph.

We learn in Philippians 4:8, that we are to meditate, that is, think about and internalize, things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy. Lets look at truth today.

Truth. Nelson's Three-in-One Bible Reference Companion defines truth as "that which is reliable, trustworthy, and consistent with the character and revelation of God."

God has been gracious to us in revealing His truth to us in His Word. Psalm 119:142 says, "Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and your law is truth." Verse 160 says, "The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgements endures forever."

When we think of truth, we often think that we are telling the truth if we stay away from lying. Indeed, God wants us to be honest in all things.

But how do we meditate on things that are true, that are consistent with the Word of God?

I would like to introduce you to a girl named Carol. She is sixteen years old, and dreams about the day when she will be a bride. Her parents have told her that this is a righteous desire, as long as she does not make an idol of it. They have also told her that the wedding itself is nothing compared to the life she will spend with her future husband (if God grants her one!)

Carol has been urged to pray for her future mate, and to spend her single years focusing on the godly virtues that will make her a most excellent wife one day. One day, Carol picks up a book at the library that she absolutely can not put down. This story focuses on the world's view of love. Even though her heart is whispering to her that what she is reading goes against the truths of the Bible, she finds herself wanting to read more and more. Everything she reads is appealing to her romantic sensibilities!

Over the weeks that follow, she builds up a list of her "ideal" man, forgetting entirely that "man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart" (I Samuel 16:7.)

Thought Questions:

1. How is Carol not meditating on things that are true?

2. What harm is she doing by focusing on these novels for her ideas of romance?

3. What are ways that you meditate on things that are true? Do you have any helpful hints to share with your sister friends that may read this blog? If so, leave a comment!

4. What other traps can we fall into in this area of meditating on truth?

Thank you, my dear, younger sisters. I hope these few thoughts have been a blessing to you! Please feel free to comment, if you would like to share your thoughts on this article. I would like to reiterate that if you have a submission that you would like me to post, remembering that everything on this site must be consistent with the truths in Philippians 4:8, please contact me at joyousmommie@girlinside.com .

May God bless you!

3John: 4 "I have no greater joy than to hear my children walk in the truth."