The Joys of Friendships

Recently, I watched on Netflix a movie called, “The Heat”. It is a cop-buddy comedy starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy.

I am a Sandra Bullock fan and would watch any movies with her in it. I would often replay them for at least a few times.

In this movie, Sandra Bullock played an FBI Special Agent, Sarah Ashburn. She was a workaholic who lived alone, an arrogant police and could not get along with anyone. Melissa McCarthy, on the other hand, played a foul-mouthed Boston police detective, Shannon Mullins. At the start of the movie, Sarah was sent to Boston to bring down a drug kingpin who happened to be followed up closely by Shannon. That was where she met Shannon, and Shannon had made it very clear that she did not like another person to interfere with her case. In order to be eligible for a promotion, Sarah agreed to her boss’ order that she worked together with Shannon to solve this case.

It was a rough start. Both of them bickered and quarreled but as days went by, they learned to watch out for each other and to appreciate each other.

In the end, as with most comedies, it was a happy ending. They cracked the case, Shannon received an award, welcomed Sarah into her family and called her a “sister” which was meaningful as Sarah did not have a family.

I laughed throughout the movie. I loved the natural and dynamic chemistry between Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy! I loved their teamwork! I enjoyed watching them working together.

I took my phone and WhatsApp my buddy—my Shannon or Sarah, and told her about the movie.Just like Sarah and Shannon in the movie, we were the complete opposite of each other. We had different upbringing, different culture, raised in different cities, liked different things and we didn’t even speak the same dialect when we first met! Somehow, we gelled. We managed to make this friendship work. There were times when we irritated and annoyed each other to the maximum but we knew that whatever we were going through, we would be there for each other. The love of Christ is the foundation of our friendship.True friends are hard to find.

Below are three joys of having friends in our lives:

1. Friends help us to enjoy God

I am an introvert but I can testify that great friends are given by God. Ephesians 5:18-19 says, “Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart”. Some of the enjoyable moments in life are just having fun together in the Lord.

2. Friends keep us accountable

John Wesley had his covenantal group which held each member accountable. Every time when they met together, they would ask each other a set of questions and they had to be honest when answering them. The purpose of this was to keep each other holy.

Good friends watch over us with love and make sure we are on the right track. Friends speak the truth to us in love (Ephesians 4:15).

Proverbs 27:6 says, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses”.

In my own life, friends speak into my life and give me rebukes when necessary so that I am living a life pleasing to God. The rebukes are painful but they help me to be a better person.

Good friends will love us enough to continue inspiring and encouraging us to grow as a person, as a citizen in this world and as a disciple of Christ.

3. Friends bring us before God in prayers

Life’s burdens and problems can weigh us down. They are heavy for us to carry them alone. Good friends will not only listen to us when we need listening ears, they will also pray for us. How wonderful to know that we are not alone in our struggles but that there are faithful friends who are bringing us before God in their intercessions.

I would love to hear from you: How had you been blessed by your friends? Leave a comment below!