Worth The Risk

Worth the Risk

A gossip goes around telling secrets, but those who are trustworthy can keep a confidence.

Just the other day, we posted on one of our social media accounts about friendship among women—what we love about it and what is challenging. We asked the women who read the post to tell us their stories of friendship over the years. Many women shared times of joy where friends were there to cheer them on, stories of encouragement and loving others well, but just as often women shared painful memories of times they’d been wounded or hurt by women in friendship, often starting in childhood or as teenagers. One woman stated that she has a hard time being vulnerable in friendship with women for fear that, if down the road they are no longer friends, the other women will share her secrets with others.

This concern, although valid, shouldn’t stop us from forming deep friendships with women around us and being willing to share vulnerable parts of ourselves with others. It is true that sometimes friendships don’t last for a variety of reasons—seasons of life change, someone moves away, or interests change—but we can still be women who love well and hold one another’s stories in confidence.

As Christians, we should be the first to avoid gossip, to hold another’s secrets in confidence, and to be dependable in our friendships. If we make it our goal to love others in this way, whether or not we remain good friends won’t change the way that we treat them or talk about them, even if the friendship ends. We will keep their secrets and wish them well even if we are no longer close. As Christians, whose goal is to love others, we should do this well. Let’s be women of whom no one would ever have to ask, “Is it worth the risk to be friends with her?”

— Kendra

— Today’s Act of Friendship —

Determine to lovingly listen to your friends and hold their stories in confidence.