January 28, 2016
Do These Pants Make My Hips Looks Big?
Sharon Jaynes
Today’s Truth
As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend (Proverbs 27:17 NLT).
Friend to Friend
I went hunting in a clothing consignment store — people watching more than actually clothes shopping. I gathered a few possibilities and then stood in line to try them on.
A group of friends occupied the three dressing rooms with piles and piles of clothes. It was quite a parade as the girls popped in and out of the cubbies to model their finds. All I needed was a bag of popcorn as I settled in for the show.
At one point, a gal came out in skintight, black shiny pants that were at least two sizes too small, a couple inches too short, and about to burst at the seams.
“Do these pants make my hips look big?” she asked her friend.
“What hips?” her friend exclaimed. “Girl, you’re lookin’ good.”
She lied.
Oh my.
My mind raced back to a time when I was with a different sort of friend. On this particular day, I met her for lunch wearing a pink sweater with fuzzy pink flamingos and randomly placed sequins. My friend took one look at me and said, “Girl, you need to take that sweater off and never wear it again. That does not look good on you!”
We had a good laugh…but I didn’t wear the flamingos again.
So which sort of friend do I really want? Honestly? One that always tells me what I want to hear, or one that loves me enough to tell me what I need to hear.
We all need friends, just a few, who will tell us the truth. Friends who will say, “That does not look good on you.” And I’m not just talking about pink sweaters with fuzzy pink flamingos or too tight, shiny black pants that make our hips look big.
I’m talking about what we wear on our hearts and in our souls. We all need friends, just a few, who will have the guts to say:
· That anger does not look good on you.
· That bitterness does not look good on you.
· That resentment does not look good on you.
· That jealousy does not look good on you.
· That self-pity does not look good on you.
· That self-condemnation does not look good on you.
· That grumbling and complaining does not look good on you.
We all need friends, just a few, who will tell us the truth because they love us too much not to.
But just a few.
As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend (Proverbs 27:17 NLT). Do you have a friend who you trust enough to tell you when something doesn’t look good on you…or in you? One that you won’t get mad at if she does? If so, you’re truly blessed.
Let’s Pray
Lord, sometimes I don’t like it when a friend tells me the truth. Most of the time I want my friends to tell me I’m cuddly and wonderful. But I do thank You for a few friends, my deepest and dearest, who love me enough to tell me the truth even when it hurts. Help me to have the right attitude to receive the hard truth when I need it.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
Ouch! This was a tough one. I stepped on my own toes and they’re throbbing.
I’m not going to have you look up any extra Scripture today. I want you to simply pray and reflect on who your iron-sharpening-iron friend might be. Then consider sending her this devotion with a big THANK YOU!
More from the Girlfriends
Today’s devotion was taken from my blog over at SharonJaynes.com. My blogs are written more in real time...what happened today. I’d love for you to click on over and sign up for my blog. When you do, you’ll receive an email with 10 of my most popular posts. An added bonus is that at least once a month I give away free goodies from the comments. So click over to www.sharonjaynes.com. I’ll see you there! We can also stay connected through Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
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