Healthy versus Unhealthy Relationships

[Nahum]

Have you ever heard the "still small voice of God" warning you to let go of an unhealthy relationship? Recently, I have been evaluating some of my relationships, and have decided that, without realizing it, I had made some unhealthy friendships with a few folks who wanted to destroy my relationship with sound doctrine.

I had thought that we could peacefully coexist with doctrinal differences, but these friends were not happy with that. They subtly tried to push me to accept trintarianism and all sorts of other false teachings. I eventually picked up on the fact that they were really mocking me and what I believed, so I decided it would be best to spend time with others who, at the very least, shared some very basic doctrinal disctinctives with me.

All of that got me thinking about the differences between healthy and unhealthy relationships. How does one determine if a friendship is healthy or not?

Here are several questions that may be helpful in determining if a friendship is good for you.

1. Is this relationship worth the amount of work required to maintain it?
2. Does this person make me feel good about myself? Am I uncomfortable around them?
3. Is this friend competitive with me in a negative way?
4. Do I like who I am when I’m with them? Or do we seem to bring out the worst in each other?
5. How deeply can I trust this person? Could I count on them if I needed to? Could I share my feelings freely?
6. Do we have common interests and values? If not, do I benefit from the differences?
7. Am I receiving as much as I give?
8. If I gave this relationship the effort it deserves, would it benefit me and enrich my life?

The people you choose to surround yourself with should inspire you to be the absolute best you can be. They should want what is best for you. They should always build you up, and never tear you down. They should never encourage you to do wrong.

Real friends have no hidden agenda. They operate in truthfulness.

The bible says that "Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint" (Prov. 25: 19)

Make sure that your friendships come "with no strings attached."