122: Friendship Matters with Amber Durgan and Rebekah Hargraves

Amber Durgan and Rebekah Hargraves are joining forces on the show today to talk all about their new book releasing December 1, “Friendship Matters: Cultivating Meaningful Connections in an Isolated World.” They also answer in a series of questions sent in by readers and listeners on the topic of friendship.

What We Chat about in Today’s Episode:

~Answering the following questions that were sent in:

*”What do I do if someone wants to be closer friends with me than I want to be with them?”

*”How does personality play into friendship?”

*”I have a friendship that is consistently draining. What should I do?”

*”Should we be closer to our Christian friends than we are to our non-Christian friends?”

*”My friend has recently made a decision I don’t agree with. What should I do?”

*”Do you have any suggestions for maintaining long-distance friendships?”

*”What do I do if I have a friend with a different worldview than mine? Is that ok?”

*”How can I share the gospel without being ‘preachy’ about it?”

~The difference between being friends *with* everyone and being friendly *to* everyone; which we are actually called to

~What to expect from the book, topics we cover, etc.

~The importance of having already developed a certain depth of friendship before “going there” and addressing hard and personal topics

~The Matthew 18 Method blueprint for how to address hard situations with your friends

~The importance of asking ourselves how we are presenting the gospel to the people in our lives.

~And more!

INSPIRING QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

“If you do not want to be closer with someone in your friendship, you need to do a heart-check and ask yourself why.”

“If the hard thing has to be done and a friendship must be cut off or boundaries put in place, still be sure to honor the image of God that is in that person.”

“Your unique personality will affect any relationship you have, so I always encourage people to know the specific personalities of the loved ones they are in relationship with.”

“One of the God-designed purposes of friendship is that it would be as iron that sharpens iron. If that is not happening, then that issue needs to be addressed.”

“Boundaries are definitely a thing. They are important. But we also need to be careful that we are not just cutting off anyone and everyone who is ever draining in any way – Jesus was friends with some draining people, but He kept on keeping on with them. That’s why it’s important to walking by the Spirit to understand how to operate in each and every circumstance.”

“There is a saying that goes, people won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Show that you care. That’s so important.”

“God never focused on the sin before He saw the person. If God can look at a person who is sinning against Him, I think we can certainly lay our pride down and lovingly welcome a fellow image bearer. We are no better than they are, and we need to see people and their stories – not just their sin.”

WHERE YOU CAN FIND AMBER ONLINE:

Website – Amber Durgan

Instagram –@cultivatingjewels

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