Faithful Friendships Help You Grow

 [Faithful Friendships Help You Grow]( Current Teaching Series [Building Character]( [Listen to Today's Broadcast]( [Faithful Friendships Help You Grow]( By Rick Warren — 12/08/2022 [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Email](mailto:?subject=I'd%20like%20to%20share%20a%20Daily%20Devotional%20from%20Pastor%20Rick%20with%20you&body= “No more lying, then! Each of you must tell the truth to the other believer, because we are all members together in the body of Christ.” Ephesians 4:25 (GNT) Real change requires honest community. There are some things that you will never be able to change on your own. You’re going to need people in your life for support—specifically, a small group of people who will be transparent and authentic with you. Sometimes in a football game, a player is so big that no opposing player can pull him down on his own. In the same way, some of the challenges in your life have to be team-tackled. That’s when you need a small group—but not just any group of people. Your small group should be made up of a few people you can talk with about your weaknesses and problems—all your hurts, habits, and hang-ups. That kind of intimacy doesn’t happen right away. When you first start a small group, you get together regularly. Then, over time, you begin to trust each other and develop a safe environment. Those people become the friends who can help you change when you can’t change on your own. Ephesians 4:25 says, “No more lying, then! Each of you must tell the truth to the other believer, because we are all members together in the body of Christ” (GNT). When you pretend to be someone you’re really not, you waste an enormous amount of energy. You may sincerely want to grow in Christ and to work on your weaknesses. But to do that, you have to be honest with your small group about who you really are. That kind of honesty is essential for spiritual change. If you could change on your own, you would, but you can’t—so you don’t. You need other people! One thing that keeps most people from being honest is their desire to look good. Your desire to look good often takes precedence over being good. And it becomes a hurdle to spiritual growth. But in a small group of other believers, you’re safe just to be yourself. Then you can grow together and make the hard changes you couldn’t make on your own. [PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>]( Talk It Over - What keeps you from finding a small group with whom you can share and grow in spiritual maturity? - In what ways has your desire to look good kept you from enjoying deep, genuine friendships? - Why does it take time to develop intimacy with a group of people? Are you willing to invest the time it takes to gain authentic biblical community? How could you start doing that this week? The post [Faithful Friendships Help You Grow]( appeared first on [Pastor Rick's Daily Hope](. 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[LEARN MORE]( [Series Summary]( Message 1: Making Hard Changes in Me Message 2: How God Tests Your Faith Message 3: Building Character at Work [PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST]( Pastor Rick Warren [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Linkedin]( Enjoy today's devotional? Listen to Pastor Rick’s daily audio teaching at [PastorRick.com]( Did someone forward this devotional to you? [Subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Devotional.]( As the founding pastor of Saddleback Church with his wife Kay, Dr. Rick Warren leads a 30,000-member congregation in California with campuses in major cities around the world. As an author, his book [The Purpose Driven Life]( is one of the best-selling nonfiction books in publishing history. It has been translated into 74 languages and sold more than 50 million copies in all formats. His book [The Purpose Driven Church]( was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the century. 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