Open Up Your Circle

Open Up Your Circle

Accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.

“Mom, can we see if Addi and her mom want to meet us there?” Jasmine asked as we were making lunches and getting ready to go to the beach.

“Of course,” I responded.

Jasmine quickly dialed her friend’s number to invite her along.

Inviting others along on day trips and vacations has become a common occurrence in our home. Our adopted son’s older brother often comes on vacations with us, and there is always an extra family that comes to spend the day when we vacation every summer with my husband’s side of the family. Keeping our circles open and looking for those we can include has become one of the greatest lessons we want our kids to learn. Just the other night, as we were planning to go out for dinner, my husband asked our children, “Who could we invite to join us?” And my five-year-old will often tell me when it’s been too long since we’ve made a plan to visit our elderly neighbor, Al. She doesn’t want us to go too long without seeing him. It’s encouraging to see how quickly our children pick up on our example.

My husband and I didn’t always have open circles—when we first started dating, most of our friends were in the exact same place in life that we were. It’s something we’ve learned to do over time as we’ve studied the Bible more and grown deeper in our faith. Now we often ask ourselves, Would Jesus welcome this person? If the answer is yes, he would, then we know, so should we.

As believers, we are to accept each other just as Christ has accepted us so that God will be given glory. When we welcome others in and are willing to start new friendships, God is given glory in the way that people see our love for one another. It’s a beautiful thing when we open up our circles.

— Kendra

— Today’s Act of Friendship —

Think of someone in your community but outside of your immediate circles. The next time you go out for dinner, invite that person to join you.