Believe The Best

Believe the Best

Now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. 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.

I wasn’t invited, and I was feeling hurt. I had inadvertently found out about a gathering of friends that my husband and I hadn’t been included in, and I was more upset than I cared to admit.

“Why weren’t we invited?” I asked my husband, who simply shrugged and tried to tell me it was okay if we weren’t always included in everything this group of friends did.

I knew that it was true, and I told myself it was fine, but I still felt like a middle school girl who’d been uninvited to a party, and I hated the old insecurities it brought up. I honestly stewed for a while, and then realized I hated the way I was feeling and the things I was thinking about my friends. Determined not to let the feelings consume me, I decided to combat them with what I knew to be true about our friends. I reminded myself of all the ways I’ve been included and comforted and loved by them over the years. I told myself that I knew they cared for me and would never do something to intentionally hurt me. I prayed and asked God to bless these friends, and slowly, I began to feel better. I chose to believe the best about my friends, and when I did, those old insecurities went away.

We all have a choice to make each day regarding what we will believe about other people. We can choose to fix our minds on things that are pure and lovely and honorable, or we can choose the opposite. It can be easy to allow our minds to go to a negative place when we feel rejected, but reminding ourselves of the ways we have been included can offset those insecurities when they arise. We all need friends who will believe the best about each other.

— Kendra

— Today’s Act of Friendship —

When you struggle with insecurity in friendships, choose to focus on the ways others have loved you well.