Choosing Friendship Over Stuff

Choosing Friendship over Stuff

Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

“Whoa, what?!” Abe squealed as he started jumping up and down. Lights flashed on his arcade game, announcing that he had just won the five-hundred-ticket jackpot. “I won, I won!” he shouted, dancing a jig of excitement. We were at Dave and Buster’s for Jonny’s tenth birthday, and both boys were trying to earn tickets to redeem for goodies in the arcade store.

Jonny was exiting the bathroom as Abe started dancing, and he knew something awesome had happened. “What’s going on? What did you win?” he asked, as he raced to Abe’s side.

Five hundred tickets was more than double what either Jonny or Abe had already earned. As I watched the boys walk around the store, I could tell Jonny was trying hard to be happy for Abe but was struggling. The item Jonny wanted was two hundred points more than he had, and he was trying to find something within his point total. I watched as Abe quietly double-checked his own point total and picked out something that left two hundred points to share with Jonny.

“Here, Jonny. Happy birthday!” Abe said as he passed on the card with the extra points.

“Really? You’re sharing some of your points with me? Thank you!” Jonny beamed as he gave Abe a hug.

“Of course. It’s your birthday. Happy birthday, friend.”

When we win a prize or are gifted an unexpected resource, it feels good, doesn’t it? And it’s normal that our first instinct is to keep it for ourselves. But God asks us to make our words and actions count for him—and choosing to share our unexpected blessing with a friend is a beautiful example of how to do that. When we thank him for blessing us with good things and share those good things with others, we reveal his love to the world.

— Julie

— Today’s Act of Friendship —

Find a way to share an unexpected blessing with a friend.