Rebekah Hargraves is the host of the Home and Hearth Podcast, which, up until this point, has always been an interview-style podcast. Now, however, she is branching out into recording the first of (what will hopefully be many – that’s up to the feedback she gets from you!) her solo podcasts to talk on the topic of “Navigating Difficult Friendships”.
What She Chats about in Today’s Episode:
~A bit of Rebekah’s own experience with difficult friendships
~How friendship is messy as a result of our living in a fallen world; why this should not come as a surprise
~5 red flag warning signs to watch out for in your friendships:
- Friends who ignore your boundaries (Proverbs 25:17)
- Friends who are emotionally insensitive (Proverbs 25:20, 27:14, )
- Friends who betray confidences (Proverbs 11:9)
- Friends who are given to backbiting (Proverbs 1:28)
- Friends who are commonly given to belittling people (Proverbs 11:12)
~The friendship example Jesus is for us
~The difference between being a backbiting friend and being a Biblical friend that is as iron that sharpens iron
~How to deal with friends who are operating out of one or more of the above five red flags
~The problem with the “good little Christian girl” syndrome
~Turning the other cheek vs. exercising boundaries
~The Matthew 18 Method (Matthew 18:15-17)
~Being enablers and idolizing your own comfort vs. seeking to erect necessary boundaries and be as iron that sharpens iron
~6 steps to take when dealing with a difficult friend:
- Pray (James 1:5)
- Point out the problem (Matthew 18:15)
- If necessary:
- Bring witnesses (Matthew 18:16)
- Erect Boundaries (Matthew 18:17)
- Continue to Pray for Reconciliation and walk by the Spirit as you do (Galatians 5:16)
- Proceed with caution if/when prompted by the Spirit to reconcile and restore wisely
~Our call to be ministers of reconciliation
~And more!
Resources Mentioned
Offer for a free audiobook and 30 day trial membership from Audible: www.audibletrial.com/HomeandHearth
HandH 068: The Power of Intentional Friendship with Joy Clarkson
Rebekah’s articles on friendship
Rebekah’s “Community” highlights on IG
“Friendship”, the sermon from Rebekah’s pastor which inspired a portion of this episode
Sally Clarkson’s Podcast, At Home with Sally
Girls Club: Cultivating Lasting Friendship in a Lonely World by Sally, Sarah, and Joy Clarkson
Quotes to Remember:
“We live in a fallen world, so friendships will sometimes get messy. But that does not give us permission to stop initiating and pursuing friendship.”
“Sometimes you have to erect boundaries and practice Matthew 18. At the end of the day, you have to love the other person more and desire their growth and sanctification more than you love your own comfort and ease.”
“If you are living as an enabler, you are allowing the other person to remain in their sin and never be called up out of it.”
“If you are an enabler, you are your own worst enemy.”
“We have to view all of this – erecting boundaries, calling out sin – through a heart of love, humility, and a desire for reconciliation and growth.”
“Being an enabler is not a mark of a true friend.”
Where You Can Find Rebekah Online:
Websites – Hargraves Home and Hearth, Spirit-Filled Woman Magazine
Instagram –@rebekahhargraves
Facebook – Hargraves Home and Hearth
Twitter – @hhomeandhearth
To Leave a Rating and Review on iTunes
Have you been encouraged or inspired by today’s episode? If so, could I ask a little favor? If you could leave the podcast a rating and review in iTunes, that would be amazing! The more ratings and reviews a podcast receives, the more iTunes shows that podcast to other folks searching for shows to listen to, so by leaving me a rating and review, you truly are partnering with me in this podcast ministry to encourage and help as many women as we possibly can. Thank you so much for taking the time to do that! Here’s how:
If you’re on your computer:
- Access iTunes on your desktop and type Home and Hearth in the search box on the upper right hand corner.
- Click on the podcast photo when it comes up
- Click on “Ratings and Reviews” beneath the podcast title
- Under “Customer Reviews”, click on “Write a Review”
- Click on how many stars you want to rate the podcast and then write out your review and click submit
- You’re done! Thank you so much!!
If you’re on your phone:
- Open the podcasts app
- Click the search button on the bottom righthand corner (the magnifying glass) and type in Home and Hearth in the search box that will appear at the top of your screen
- Click on the podcast photo when it pops up
- Click on the reviews button near the top middle of the screen
- Scroll down a bit, if needed, until you see “Write a Review” and click on that
- Click on how many starts your want to rate the podcast, write out your review, and click “send” when finished
- You’re done! Thank you so much!!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 48:41 — 44.7MB) | Embed
