Have You Been Changed For Good?

On Sandi Patty’s CD Songs for the Journey, she sings the song For Good. As you may know, the song was written by Stephen Schwartz for the musical Wicked. I’m not familiar with the musical except to say it involved two friends. And that’s where I come in.

“Because I knew you I have been changed for good.” Each time I hear those words I begin recalling my friends and how they have affected my life. I am blessed with women I call friends. My friends date back to my elementary school years and through my entire life— childhood . . . teen years . . . early adulthood, middle age and every year since.

Friendships just don’t happen. You have to nurture a friendly relationship just like any other relationship. Sometimes you’ll find the relationship one–sided. Sometimes you learn the relationship is not a good one for you. Only you can determine if you’ve chosen well. But if you believe the relationship has value, I promise you the end results are worth all the effort you put into building a friendship

“We need people with whom we can be open and share our struggles, those who will bear our burdens as we also bear theirs, and who will support us in prayer. That kind of vulnerability is what produces genuine fellowship, or koinonia–the heart-to-heart connection God desires for His people.” Leigh Ann Powers, just between us

Sister’s Keeper, words and music by Twila McBride-LaBar and Anita Renfroe, is another song that expresses love for friends. It was recorded by Kim Hopper, on her CD Imagine, and it shares the following words: “ ... and though our lives are different, we share a common bond, our Father makes us family, and family makes us strong, our sisters make us strong.”

“C. S. Lewis said, “ Is any pleasure on earth as great as a circle of Christian friends by a fire?” [“especially on a snowy day.”]

Have I been changed for good because of the friends I know? Yes, I have. Friendship is indeed worth having. Another line I like from “For Good,” “I know you have re-written mine [life] by being my friend ...”

Have you been changed for good? I think it’s a question worth your time.