Thursday, February 25, 2010
A childhood friend
I recently came across the question on Facebook "Of what purpose is a friend from one's youth?". At first I just kept moving but then I got to thinking about it. What is the purpose of childhood friends? Sure they make growing up a little more fun but what is thier ultimate purpose? And in case anyone out there thinks I have all the answers, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I don't. I not sure what the answer to this question is. I have a vauge idea but I'd really like to get ya'll's thoughts on it. So what do you think? Are childhood friends merely for the purpose of pleasure? Or are they instead placed in our lives for a greater purpose?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
They are probably just for pleasure. But I have a childhood friend that has shaped me later on, because our relationship faltered. We didn't have contact for years because of our differences, and now, she's helped me be a better person. =)So I can't really answer that question.
ReplyDeleteUmm that's a good question. My personal opinion is that siblings are of more importance than childhood friends because they'll always be your siblings but friends come and go. I think that's part of why God created brothers and sisters, so that'll we will, in a sense, have childhood friends in the short-run and best friends in the long run.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good question! Without doubt, childhood friends bring pleasure to our life. But, I think that God, in His omniscience, puts dfferent people in our lives at different times for various reasons. Some friends may teach us something through their actions, others may be encouraging...the list could go on and on. To sum my answer up, I think that God places peole in our lives, whether it is at age 7, 17, or 77, to help us or teach us something in someway.Maybe even years after seeing the person, you may remember something they said or did, and it may encourage you or help you or whatever. At the time, the situation may seem to have no lasting purpose, but the Bible says, "to everything there is a purpose".
ReplyDeleteI love these thought-provoking posts! Keep it up! -A.B.
They are placed in our lives to "sharpen" us. Because someday most people marry and have children of their own.
ReplyDeleteSo I think that God places them in our lives to prepare us.
Being a child who was raised with next to no friends, I remember feeling very alone. I had no near friend to do things with or enjoy. Yet, it really strengthened my relationship with the Lord as He became my constant companion. I spent hours discussing things with Him that I would have normally talked about with a friend. Now I have several wonderful friends and I have found that I treasure those relationships more. Would I have done that if I'd had several friends as a younger child? Maybe, maybe not.
ReplyDeleteGreat question!
~Bethany~
Great thoughts everyone. Although I wish I could get another guys perspective on it. Unfortunately I have no idea whether you two anons. are male or female.:) Anyway ya'll had some great imputs. I totally agree with you all that the main purpose of those friends is to sharpen us "as iron sharpens iron". The pleasure we get from those friends is merely a added benefit.
ReplyDelete@ Beth-any ~ I have had a very similar experience. I had friends from our church until there were differnces between our families and the church which caused us both to leave. And recently we've kinda renewed that friendship.
@ Grace ~ I definantly agree that our siblings should be our closet childhood friends. Thanks for bringing out that point.
@ Anon #1 (aka A.B.) ~ As always great comment. Excellent point too that this does not only apply to friends in our childhood but throughout our life.
@ Anon #2 ~ Interesting link you made between childhood friends and marriage. Though we should be, I'm afraid most of us arn't looking at marriage in the very near future so we arn't really thinking along those lines.:) But it sounds like you are closer to that point than us so we would love if you have any futher thoughts along that perspective. Great thought and thanks for commenting.
@ Bethany ~ yes the times where friends are few make you very grateful for the times you do have friends. Thanks.