I pray that my girls understand true friendship.

A real friend tells you when you have spinach in your teeth! This is a truth that everyone at every age and stage can relate to. Be honest, how many times have you looked in the mirror after a long day and realized…traces of your lunch were still sitting there?

Or if you are like me, after a good meal you simply turn and smile at your best friend giving her the open invite to offer a dose of constructive criticism!

My daughters enjoy hearing stories like this. Not because of their deep truth but because they enjoy the idea of mommy looking silly. But what better way to get their attention and plant a seed of truth.

Proverbs 27:6

Wounds from a friend can be trusted.

Friends speak love to each other even when it’s a hard or embarrassing truth, knowing that it is in their best interest. I want my girls to know this type of friendship. I want them to be this type of friend.

I also want them to know that friends don’t speak truth with cruel intentions of hurtful desires but with love and compassion. We never want the people we love to make a decision or head down a harmful path without doing everything we can to stop them. This is true with minor details like sporting spinach in our teeth but even more with the things in life that matter most.

We all know that there are people out there that could benefit from hearing truth spoken in compassion. People who need to know the truth of God’s Word, while feeling His love. Many of them are your neighbors or car pool partners.

But have you ever thought about the fact that many of them are sitting next to your daughter at the lunch table or playing with her on the playground? Just like you, God wants your daughter to be a voice of loving truth to other girls and boys around her. Her friends.

I encourage you to talk to your girls about what it means to be a true friend!

3 Things to remember:

1. We show our friends our love through sacrifice.
   “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13
   Jesus is the best example of a friend and our goal is to follow His model. When we call someone our friend, we have to be willing to put their best interest and needs in front of our own comfort.

2. Friends should help to make us better.“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17

   True friends make each other better. Friends encourage each other to grow!

3. Friends pray for each other.
   I pray that God gives me and my girls the boldness to speak truth in love to those that need it; most importantly to the ones we call our friends.
   

Start the conversation with your girls:

1. What are some things you enjoy doing with your friends?
2. Do you think you have to tell your friends when you see them making a bad decision?
3. Has a friend ever told you something that hurt your feelings? How did you respond?

Excerpts taken from the new For Girls Like You Devotional. Order it now and begin talking to your girl about God’s word and her life!