Be Mine Conference 2014

So I have been busy trying to finalize my talking points and activity for my breakout session for the Be Mine conference this year.  This is the third year of the conference and my third year serving as a breakout session leader.  My first year I spoke about social media, last year I spoke about my experience with depression in high school, and this year I get to speak about friendship.  I have had so many ideas swirling in my head about what to focus on in the talk and how to approach the subject.  God has been giving me lots of inspiration but I’m trying to get it all organized and ready since the event is this weekend. 

I plan to talk first about the kind of friend that Jesus was by talking about his friendship traits and examples in scripture.  Then I plan to move into what kind of friends we are to one another.  Jesus constantly demonstrated sacrificial love, acceptance, forgiveness, and loyalty.  

As women we are often our own biggest obstacle to genuine Christian friendships and being a disciple to others.  Often we allow our biased, egotistical, and prideful beliefs to interfere with meaningful interactions with others.  If we are not treating ourselves well, we often have difficulty accepting being treated well by others.  Our society often teaches us how to be critical of ourselves and others and to condemn people for not looking or acting a certain way.  Our greatest weapon against the evil at work in these times is extending kindness to others, demonstrating compassion, and practicing forgiveness. 

Consider the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37).  Jesus describes a man who was beaten by burglars and left for dead.  Two people with religious backgrounds saw the man and walked around him without helping.  A Samaritan did stop and help the man.  Although the Jews did not care for Samaritans the story highlights that Jesus rejoices when we strip away judgment so we can love and help others.  In our friendships most of us are not dealing with physical wounds like this but when a friend is suffering in some way this parable illuminates that God wants us to respond to the people around us with love and compassion. 

What barriers do we have to meaningful friendships? 

Gossiping (violates trust)
Passive Aggressiveness (impedes forgiveness)
Judgment (inhibits kindness to others)
Lying ( violates trust)
Being Superficial (dulls or prevents compassion)

Links to my posts about the first two years of the conference can be found
here and here.