Having friends is like writing a book… Your friends will never truly forgive you for your past imperfections. You can edit a book several times before you publish it, but after it goes to print, the content nor the grammar can be changed. The author is then responsible for the concepts provided within that project. What happens after that writer finishes the book, has a few more epiphanies and learns/believes that the opinion of the original concept is no longer valid. Does the writer write another book? How can an author ensure that the readers from the previous project understand that through the individual’s experiences those concepts have changed? Everyone has made bad decisions in their past. Some of us have even come to realize that we need to change our lifestyles in order to produce the results we really want.
I realized after a recent conversation, that when your friends recognize a pattern of mistakes that you have made, they aren’t as likely to let you forget about them. I called up my sorority sister one day and told her about how close my relationship with Christ has gotten. I told her whenever I feel lonely, I can read my Bible and he always seems to let me flip to a scripture that raises my spirits. I explained to her the importance of 2 Timothy 2:22 in my life. “Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” From reading my Bible, I have learned what to pray for. Those prayers have become more personal and God has opened up more doors for my career and friendships. I told her that I had begun having frequent chats with an interesting man from the church. Then she interrupted me to say, “Ambi, you know how ‘froggy’ you can get… You know you are supposed to be married to someone and somehow you end up with these devils disguised as angels. Take your time.” Of course, I responded with an, “I know!” If she were listening to the first half of our conversation she would have recognized how this situation was different. My focus was clearly on friendships and how one had developed through my connection with God.
When God provides me with an opportunity to pursue love with someone who loves him and is actively seeking to serve him, then I will know because it comes through conversations with first God, and then the man. Conversations, like the ones with my soror, are meant to test my faith. Writing about my journey as a young, single, Christian woman allows me to self-evaluate my path to righteousness. I believe that 2 Timothy 2:22 is connected to 1 Timothy 4:15 – 16, “Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Preserve in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”
That is why I have been inspired to write about my journey as a young, single, Christian woman. God, who is my true friend, understands that I am not perfect, yet he supports me as I strive to be as Christ-like as humanly possible. I have found myself in a pattern of doing wrong and asking God to forgive me many times before. I know most of my friends and even close family members would be too prideful to accept my apology for a reoccurring fault against them. Only God has been that forgiving towards me. For that, I owe it to him to give that same service to my friends, family, and even people that I may consider to be enemies. When the time of judgment comes, I want my good to outweigh my bad and the slate wiped clean.
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