The best friend any one of us can have is the one gal who always points us to Jesus.
Online friendships are so very unique. What might hinder us from being friends in the flesh – location, occupation, schedule, age, church affiliation – seems to hold little weight in online circles. Sometimes the most attractive trait in an online friendship boils down to one thing — availability.
Green Facebook squares or Skype clouds make for instant friends. But do they make for quality friends?
Are we so eager for camaraderie that we settle for whoever is online rather than seek out healthy friendships?
Do our online friendships bring us closer to Jesus?
Three years ago I befriended a missionary blogger after exchanging comments on each others’ blogs. Many months into our friendship my blog started to grow and went in a completely different direction than simply documenting family trips. I started hosting giveaways, reviewing books I didn’t even like for page views, and blog hopping.
My online friend questioned my motives. She wanted to know was I doing all this hoop jumping for Kingdom Glory or Stef Layton glory.
I was terribly offended because deep down in my heart I wanted to be a “big blogger” and I didn’t want to answer her question. I was doing what everyone else was doing online – I saw no problem. I responded to her emails in anger and then decided I wanted nothing to do with her. Immediately I deleted our connections.
I wanted to be friends with bloggers who were looking for growth. Blog growth not spiritual growth. Most of those friendships were shallow, depressing, and focused on making our names great – not making HIS NAME great. I believe there is a healthy balance to growing your blog and honoring God. It took me awhile to find it.
If we settle for quick and easy friendships just because someone is online at the same time … we will always end up longing for something deeper.
Do you bring your online friends closer to Jesus?
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Stef is a Word loving homeschool mom – nuts about her husband and 2 superheroes. More likely to get it wrong she requires tons of grace if you want to be friends. Stef blogs at Educating Laytons and created The Homeschool Village.
