Why Your Best Friends Need to be Jesus Girls

by Rebecca Kiser

I’m not talking about every single person you ever hang out with, or even all of your friends; I actually think a lot of those people need to be non-christians. No, I’m talking about your absolute closest friends. The ones whose houses are your second homes, the ones that have to be the first to know about every event in your life, the “Call me, I’ll be there,” kind of friends. Every Jesus girl needs these people to be other Jesus girls.

First of all, there is a difference between a christian girl and a Jesus girl.

Just because they are Christians and go to church and all that good stuff does not mean they are the Jesus girls who we’re talking about here. Jesus girls are the ones who are actively pursuing God and the life He has for them. They are the ones who are legit about their faith and let it be the guiding factor in their lives.
The most important friends in your life have to be Jesus girls, and here’s why:

Who you hang around influences your character

I’ve heard it said that you become most like the five people you spend the most time around, and you should be extremely picky as to who gets to fill those five slots. Philippians 4:8 says, “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” If you think about it, your best friends have a huge influence on what you think about, and therefore who you are, and whether you intend it or not, their character is going to shape yours. If you are constantly around impure, dishonorable, corrupt people and culture, eventually you are going to stop seeing the problem with it. Those people need to be filling your thoughts with truth and with Jesus, because that’s what you want your character to be rooted in.

They lead you when you can’t lead yourself

There have been countless times in my life when I’ve been dependent on my friends’ abilities to make decisions for me when I was too stressed or emotionally involved to make my own, but a recent situation involving a boy I liked overshadows them all.
 “I’m just so thankful that you were able to see how horrible he was and get out of that relationship.” I let my grandmother’s loving words seep into my mind as I suddenly realized, with a jolt of terrifying revelation, that I hadn’t seen it at all. I had been talking to a manipulative boy who was nowhere near the kind of guy I’ve always dreamed of, despite the fact that he was a christian. But his smooth lines and charismatic personality were a smoke screen that, though intoxicating, clouded my vision. I didn’t even see how corrupt he was or how he had somehow convinced me that I was at fault for every red flag I saw about our relationship; but my best friend did. She told me he was a snake, and that he was not the guy she knew I wanted more than anything. She literally sat me down and recited everything I’ve ever said I wanted in a guy, (and everything God says I want in a guy) and gave example after example as to why this guy did not make the cut. Without her steering me away from him, I would have kept right along and ended up with wrecked emotions and a scarred heart.
“No, I didn’t see it, that’s the thing. My judgement was way too clouded to see what was right in front of me. I’m thankful that my girl on the outside was close enough to God to see it and close enough to me to know how to yank me away,” I replied as I placed her into a new level of importance in my life.
See here’s the thing: All of my friends told me he was a bad idea. My christian friends, my non-christian friends, even people I’m not really that close with, but it was my Jesus girl that gave me real truth and was able to get a firm hold on my heart.

They speak truth into your life

Jesus girls are going to be the ones that always bring you back to the basics of truth. They know the most foundational parts of your faith, and they are going to be the ones who pull out a Bible when you call them crying in the middle of the night and give you some solid ground to stand on. There’s only so much a non-christian friend can do to help you when you find yourself in those crippling moments of despair and heartache, because they don’t understand, or even know, the most central part of your heart. Not to say that what they tell you isn’t true, a non-christian friend is gonna give you encouraging words like, “He’s a jerk, you’re gonna find someone way better than him,” or, “I know this is a hard time in your life but you are going to get through it and come out stronger because of the struggle.” All of that is 100% true, and you need people in your life that are gonna tell you those things, but you also need that deeper level. You need to be filled with the army conquering, truth speaking, life saving power of Jesus, and these girls are the ones who are going to give you that.

They relate to your struggles

There are things that you deal with as a Christian that your non-christian friends just cannot relate to. Even if they understand and respect your decision or stance on something, they cannot help you overcome your struggle with it. For example, let’s say you are ranting about how you are so stressed and everyone around you just escapes it by getting drunk or high. Your non-christian friends, and possibly some of your christian friends too, are gonna say, “Why don’t you just join them then? It’s just a good way to relax from all the stress of school. It’s not a big deal, everyone does it.” Your Jesus girls are going to say, “Girl, same! I can’t stand the society where everyone just takes the easy way out and doesn’t care, and no one even gets caught!”
As a Jesus girl, you are fighting fights other teenagers don’t even know exist. You are constantly pushing against the flow, and when you need someone to turn to, it has to be someone who is fighting with you, not one that’s part of the society you’re pushing against.

I truly believe that you need to have strong friendships with Christians and non-Christians as well because they too play an irreplaceable role in your life, but your best friends have to be Jesus girls.

They are the ones that fill you with Jesus instead of with the world.

They are the ones you turn to when you don’t trust your own ability to make a solid decision, and you need to know that they are going to lead you in the way God would.

They are the ones that speak love and spiritual wisdom into your life.

They are the ones that can relate to your struggles on a personal level, because they are fighting them too.

These friends are the ones you’re gonna have for the rest of your life. You have to hold onto girls like this; and remember to be that kind of friend for them too.

“The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and honey.” - Proverbs 27:9 NLT
“As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” - Proverbs 27:17 NLT