 Alright, keep your place there in 1 Samuel chapter 20. So we're talking this morning and next Sunday morning on the subject of friendship and what the Bible says about that and we hear a great story about friendship in the Bible here today. So we're going to talk this morning, first of all, about, you know, what does it mean to be a friend? What is friendship according to the Bible? So we see this story here of David and Jonathan, keep your place there in 1 Samuel chapter 20. We will get there in a few minutes, but first of all, let me just ask, you know, this morning, you know, what is a friend? You know, what is a friend? And the question is on, you know, look at the front of your bulletin. The Bible says, a man that hath friends must show himself friendly. And there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. So I'm going to focus this morning on the first part of this verse where it says, a man that hath friends must show himself friendly. So we're going to explore what this statement means. You know, what does it mean to be friendly? I mean, the Bible says that if you want to have friends, you know, if I was going to ask you, you know, do you want to have friends? You know, the Bible, I mean, most people would say yes, you know, I want to have friends. But the Bible says that in order to have friends, you must show yourself friendly. So we're going to look at what that means to show yourself friendly this morning. Now to the world, you know, there's a little bit different definition here. It's interesting. Some stats this morning, just let me just give you 27 to 30% of millennials today. So millennials are the generation that are basically ruining this country, in my opinion. But you know, 27 to 30%, you know, so it's not really surprising that like one out of three of them, one out of three millennials will tell you in a poll, they have no friends. Shocker, right? Like I'm a communist and I'm lazy and I don't want to do anything with my life except burn things, you know, and push this cancel culture or whatever they call it. And I have no friends, shocking, shocking, right? So look, it's not surprising that this generation pushing socialism, riots, the cancel culture, they don't want to get married, they're shunning marriage, you know, that this cult, I mean, this generation is extremely lonely and has no friends. But look, the Bible says that having friends is important, all right? Having friends is important. So let's explore the reasons from the Bible. You know, what does the Bible say about friendship? Turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 4. You say, you know, just ask yourself, you say, do I want friends? Well, let's look at that for a minute, all right? Let's look at whether or not you want friends as a Christian. Turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 4 and look at verse number 9. And I mean, the Bible even, I mean, a simple question like, do I want to have friends? The Bible answers it for you, okay? So as a Christian, the Bible, I mean, the Bible gives you some reasons that you want friends. Okay? In Ecclesiastes chapter 4, look at verse number 9. The Bible says two are better than one. Well, why? Because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. Underline those words in your Bible, if you don't mind writing in your Bible, that, you know, if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him that's alone when he falleth, for he hath not another to help him up. So here it's saying that, you know, you want to have friends because if you're by yourself and you fall, there's no one to pick you up. Okay? If two lie together, then they have heat, but how can one be warm alone? Again, helping each other. And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him, and a three-fold cord is quickly, is not quickly broken. So friends are to be a support structure. The Bible says, turn to Proverbs chapter 27. The Bible says a friend is a great thing. Proverbs 27 gives us some more reasons that friends are good. And it's good to have friends. Look at Proverbs 27 in verse number 17. The Bible says this about friends. It says, iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. Okay? Look back at verse number six of Proverbs 27. Proverbs 27, look at verse number six. Now you may not want to hear this one, but look, the Bible says, faithful are the wounds of a friend. But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. So look, here's the answer. Do I want friends? The answer according to the Bible is a resounding yes. You want friends. They make you stronger. They lift you up when you fall. They sharpen you, the Bible says. Your friends should sharpen you, should make you better, should improve your countenance. They should improve who you are. Solomon said that to find a good friend was one man among 10,000. I mean, the biblical definition of friends is different than what the world will tell you. We're going to focus more on that next Sunday. But look, friends in general, the world is going to tell you that friends are like drinking buddies or something like that. There's much more to friends. We're going to really dig into the details of that next week. But these people that just hang out with co-workers go out and just, you know, get drunk together or whatever they call it, look, this is not what the Bible says that friendship is. All right? So what I want to do this morning is I want to look at this story of David and Jonathan. And I want to see what we can pull from that about what the Bible says that true friendship is and really what it means to be friendly. A man that has friends must. He doesn't say if you want to have friends that you should. It says a man that has friends must show himself friendly. So we need to know what it means to show yourself friendly. You're like, that's easy. I bet you have it wrong. I bet you don't know. So let's look at it. Go to 1 Samuel chapter 18 and let's look at this friendship between Jonathan and David, which as far as friendships in the Bible go, I'm not sure I can find one that's better than this one. And I'm going to show you why between Jonathan and David. Look at 1 Samuel chapter 18 and verse number one. In verse number one of 1 Samuel 18, the Bible says, And it came to pass when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David. And Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day and would let him go no more at home to his father's house. Talking about David. So Saul is right now, he's making David stay with him. He wants David to stay with him and his family. And of course, he becomes part of the inner circle of Saul. They're sitting at the king's table. I mean, this is the inner circle. This is like the Knights of the Round Table, the real one, right? Where you have Abner sits at this table, Jonathan, the son of the king, David, and the king himself. These are the guys that sit at this table. This is where David in chapter 18 here becomes part of this inner circle. And then the Bible says, Then Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him and gave it to David and his garments even to his sword and to his bow and to his girl. So basically, David becomes part of this inner circle. He becomes part of this inner circle. And Jonathan, he responds to David, they become great friends. They become close. And Jonathan just starts giving David all these super important items that were of his own, right? So David and Jonathan become good friends. And Jonathan starts just giving to David right away, right? Now Jonathan goes further and goes to Saul to advocate for David when things go south with David. Okay, so look, Saul knows at this point, between chapter 18 and chapter 20, things have gone south. Saul becomes jealous of David. He knows that David is going to be king. He knows that the kingdom is going to be taken away from him and given to David. And look, he tries to kill him. So Saul tries to kill David. And after, you know, in chapter 20, we've already gotten to the point where Michael, David's wife, has already helped him escape from Saul because Saul sent men to kill David. But look, Jonathan just reaches out even more in chapter 20 to help David in this situation. Look at 1 Samuel 20 in verse number one. In 1 Samuel chapter 20, the chapter we just read, we're going to see how Jonathan begins to help or continues to help David. You know, they've become very close friends. They've become very good friends. And in verse number one, it says, And David fled from Neoth and Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? What is mine iniquity? And what is my sin before thy father that he seeketh my life? He's like, why is your dad trying to kill me? And he says in verse two, he said unto him, God forbid that thou shalt not die. Behold, my father will do nothing, either great or small, but that he will show it me. And why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so. So he's basically, Jonathan here is telling David, he's like, I'll find out. He's like, I'll find out what's going on. I'm his son. He'll tell me. You know, Jonathan at this point is kind of like, we can fix this. You know, he's like, we can fix this. I'm going to go find out what's going on. And they come up with this plan where he's going to find out what's going on and then he'll communicate it in this secret way to David in this field. Okay, look at verse 33. This is how it goes for Jonathan when he tries to find out what's going on. And he covers for David because David is not there at the dinner table, at the king's table. David's there. He's gone for two nights. And finally, Saul's like, what's going on? Right? And Jonathan tries to cover up for David saying, Saul, he went to Bethlehem. He just had some things to take care of. But look at verse 33. And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David. So here, like, he tries to kill his own son for covering up for his friend. So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger and did eat no more meat at the second day of the month for he was grieved for David because his father had done him shame. So here's Jonathan. So I mean, just think of the character of Jonathan here for a second. His own father just tries to kill him, right? His own father, he's trying to find out why he's upset at David. And his own father calls him out. I mean, his father even says to him, I mean, think of the selflessness of Jonathan, by the way, he's the king's son. Who usually becomes the next king? He's the king's son and Saul yells at him and basically says, what, you know, what is wrong with you? You're betraying your own family. He's like, don't you realize that, you know, you're not gonna be king because of David? Is basically what he tells him in chapter 20. Then he throws a javelin at him and tries to kill him. And what is Jonathan's reaction? He's angry, but he's grieved for David. Is he like, oh, my daddy's mad at me. No, he's like, he's sad for David. He's sad because this man, his father, is after and trying to kill his friend. He doesn't even think about the fact that he's also trying to kill me in that moment of rage. He just threw a javelin at him, right? So look, Jonathan helps David at nearly the cost of his own, his very life. He goes and he puts himself in this, I mean, Saul, if you know anything about Saul, he's just, he's quick to wrath. He's rageful against people, even to the point where he just loses his temper and tries to murder his own son. And this guy goes to this type of person and tries to just find out and possibly fix. We know that there's no fixing it. We know, because we know the story. But look, Jonathan, the point I'm trying to make here is Jonathan is being friendly towards David. You see what I'm saying? Because look, he's just giving and giving and giving and giving up to the cost of his own life almost. He's being friendly to David. He's being a friend to David. So a man that has friends must show himself friendly. Jonathan is showing himself friendly here. Now so far, I mean, is David really showing himself friendly to Jonathan? No, David is receiving the friendliness at this point in the story, okay? But look, turn to 2 Samuel chapter nine. Turn to 2 Samuel chapter nine. At this point in 2 Samuel chapter nine, Saul and Jonathan, his son, are dead. They're dead. They've been killed by the Philistine army. Saul took his own life. But look at 2 Samuel chapter nine in verse number one. The Bible says, and David said, is there yet any that is left in the house of Saul that I may show him kindness, why? For Jonathan's sake. And there was in the house of Saul a servant whose name was Zeba, and when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, art thou Zeba, and he said, thy servant is he. And the king said, is there not any of the house of Saul that I may show the kindness of God unto him? And Zeba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet. And the king said unto him, where is he? And Zeba said unto the king, behold, he is in the house of Micur, the son of Amel, in Lodbar. And the king said, and the king sent and fetched him out of the house of Micur, the son of Amel from Lodbar. Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth, and he answered, behold, thy servant. And David said unto him, fear not, for I will surely show kindness for Jonathan, thy father's sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul, thy father, and thou shall eat bread at my table continually. So he basically tells Mephibosheth, who is this son, who is this disabled son of Jonathan, he says, you are gonna eat at my table now for the rest of your life. Why? For Jonathan's sake. So David is showing friendliness to Jonathan. He's fulfilling this covenant that he made with his friend. In First Samuel chapter 20, they made a covenant between each other's houses that they would respect and take care of each other's houses forever and ever. And David is fulfilling that. Look, this is a nice friendship here. This is a nice friendship. They both showed themselves friendly towards each other. So we see, look, we see, we see the question that we need to ask in our lives might not be like, how many friends do you have, man? How many friends do you have? But a better question is, how many people are you friendly towards? Is a better question. Or are people just friendly towards you? So look, being a friend we see from David and Jonathan, being a friend, it takes effort. It takes effort to be friendly. Look, this is what made this friendship so great between Jonathan and David because they both gave friendliness towards each other. But someone who you are just constantly being a friend to, you are constantly giving things to them, you're constantly providing for them, and there's just nothing in return. Look, you are their friend, but they are not yours. Do you see? Do you see why the Bible puts it this way? Let's turn to Proverbs chapter 19. Look, people like this are of extremely low character and will only drag you down, first of all. All right, look at Proverbs chapter 19. Proverbs chapter 19. If you, I mean, look, if you are just always being the friend, look at Proverbs chapter 19. Look at verse number four. The Bible says, wealth maketh many friends, but the poor is separated from his neighbor. If you're just always gonna just be friendly and just always you're the one just being the friend and just being friendly constantly, the Bible says, look, there's always gonna be plenty of people around you. No problem. I mean, the wealth maketh many friends. I mean, I still remember this kid in grade school that would just come to, I mean, this was like third grade and this kid just stands out to me like crazy. This kid must have come from a family where they had lots of money or something and cause he was just constantly like bringing the coolest toy to school and then he would just like give it to people. He was just constantly bringing like these little video game things. Like I was like, man, I'll never have something like that. And then he would just give it to people. But he's just like bringing all these, the neatest, latest toy and then he would just give it to people. Look, this kid was just like constantly just giving away toys. Constantly just giving away stuff. But look, I mean, you'll find adults that are the same way. You'll find adults that are the same way. They're just constantly just giving, giving, giving, giving, giving to people. And the Bible says that people like that wealth maketh many friends. I mean, it makes sense, right? People are gonna want to be around somebody. I mean, all the kids were always kind of constantly around this kid. It was like, man, that's an awesome toy. I want it. I know he's gonna give it to me. I know he's just giving stuff away constantly. I mean, did you ever meet this kid? I mean, it was crazy, the stuff that he gave away. His parents must have thought when he went home, like, but his parents probably didn't even know because they just kept giving and giving him stuff. Right, we'll get to that in a minute. Turn to Luke six. Luke chapter six, look at verse 35. Luke chapter six and verse 35. Luke chapter six and verse number 35. So now this is where it gets a little bit difficult. All right, because we see that the friendship between Jonathan and David, it was such a beautiful thing because they were friendly towards each other. But now we're gonna talk about these friendships where they're just all just one sided, right? Where it's just completely one sided friendships. Look at Luke six and verse number 35. But love your enemies and do good and lend hoping for nothing again. And your reward shall be great. And ye shall be the children of the highest for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. So here we see one side is gonna, one side of this whole situation is gonna be rewarded. I mean, they're lending and they're just giving and they're just these, but one side's rewarded, but the other side is unthankful and evil, the Bible says. So like, look, if, hey, if you do nothing but take from people, you are not a friend. If you do nothing but receive from people, you are not a friend. Look, you may have friends. You may have friends, but you're not one. You see? You're not a friend. I mean, you're a leech is what you are. If you have all these friends and you do nothing, but just receive friendship from people. If you just are a receiver of friendliness, you know, you're just, you stink. Really? But look, I mean, the problem is, the problem is this, right? The animal that the leech is attached to, it's not like it's just, there's nothing going on. That animal, you know, gets an infection. I mean, the leech actually takes away from that animal. The leech actually hurts that animal, hurts that being, right? He loses blood, which is the life, the Bible says. Look, go back to your bulletin. Look at verse 24 of chapter 18. I mean, just ask yourself, a man that has friends must show himself friendly. Do you show yourself friendly to anyone? You're like, well, I'm nice. That's not what I'm talking about. That's not, it's not talking about being nice. It's about showing yourself friendly. It's about Jonathan and David showing each other action towards each other that actually helped what? Lift up the other. Lift up the other. Friends should always be trying to outdo each other. So I'm gonna give you two steps this morning on how to be friendly. On how you can be friendly in your life. I mean, you say, I wanna be friendly. I'm gonna give you two easy steps. The first one is this. Don't ever take from anyone. That's a good first step right there. Don't always be, you always wanna be on the giving side of the relationship. You wanna be on the showing yourself friendly side of the relationship. You say, well, I just need help right now. Well, you ever notice how most people that just need help right now always need help? You ever notice that? You ever notice how basically I just need help right now really translates into always and forever for most people? I mean, I can't tell you, especially in this Christian life, how many one-sided friendships that you will come across. You say, well, I just don't have any money right now to go to that thing. Well, don't go. It's that simple. Don't ever take from anyone. Because every time you take, you lose character. Every time you take, you lose character. Step number two. So don't ever take from anyone. I mean, really, if you could follow step number one, you wouldn't even need step number two. But look, always make sure you give back more than you receive. I mean, David adopted Jonathan's disabled son. Forever. I mean, he outdid him. Jonathan almost gave David his life. But David, I mean, David took his child in as his own basically. And it was a great relationship all the way to the end of that relationship. Look, he gave back more than he received. Don't be this person that's constantly receiving help from people and then gives back something that is actually nothing. Thanks for helping me with my mortgage payment, brother. Here's a candy bar I got for free yesterday. I mean, you see that all the time too. So I mean, the question is today, is are you friendly to people or are you just receiving friendliness in your life? All right. Look, there needs to be a time in your life where, I mean, we see this outsole winning all the time. But there needs to be a time in your life where the rose-colored glasses about how you look at yourself come off. Does that make sense? Does that make sense? I mean, everybody, look, everybody that we talk to outsole winning, they think they're pretty good, right? I mean, if you believe, I mean, look, this is why Work Salvation, Work Space Salvation is such an easy sell for most people. Because look, most people think they're pretty good. Most people think that they're pretty good. They just don't think it through as far as, you know, Biblical logic, but they think, you know, I mean, you gotta be a pretty good person to go to heaven and I'm a pretty good person. Because like, when I look at myself in the mirror with my rose-colored glasses, I see a pretty good person. Look, you need to have a moment. Look, everybody needs this moment. Everybody needs it, I remember my moment like this. I remember exactly where I was sitting. When I found out that there were some people in my life that maybe didn't think I was as awesome as I thought I was. Have you ever had that moment in your life where those rose-colored glasses come off and you're like, well, maybe I'm not so great. Maybe the things that I'm doing are wrong. Maybe the way people look at me is not the way that I look at myself. Well, that's a problem, that's a problem. If you have these special glasses that only work when you look in the mirror, that's a problem. You need to get rid of those glasses. I'm positive that Hitler thought he was a pretty good person. You're like, Hitler? Yeah, everybody. Hitler, Stalin, look, you just need to get out. You need to have this moment in your life. You need to get out your measuring stick, the biblical measuring stick. You need to see how you line up against that biblical measuring stick. Look, are people constantly doing things for you all the time? Are they? Are you relying on other people to feed you, to clothe you, to house you? Do you borrow things from people all the time? Basically do things. Are people constantly doing things for you that cost them money? If so, you are not friendly. You are not a friend. You're like, that's harsh. Well, I'm sorry, but you're not a friend, according to the Bible, if that's you. That's your measuring stick. I'm sorry to offend you with the Bible. I mean, this is the type of message that people need to hear, which is why it's in the Bible. Look, I mean, you see you, you're like, but it's me, but it's me. And I'm gracing people with my presence, because it's me. I mean, look at me. Take the glasses off and throw them in the garbage can, because other people see a leech that's not friendly to people. So, I mean, the question is not, as the world would say, do you have friends? The question is this morning, are you a friend, period? Are you a friend? Look, most people, you know, most people that aren't friends in the world, they just won't have many friends. Let me just go off here, because most people that are just leeches, and they just take from people constantly, they're just not gonna have many friends, because secular people just aren't gonna put up with that garbage. They're just gonna be like, I'm not gonna hang around somebody, then I'm constantly just having to support and take care of and all this stuff. Constantly, they just do nothing but take from people. Most people in the world like that are just not gonna have any friends. The most extreme example of that is some guy sleeping under a bridge. But look, it's easy for these types of people to exist in a church. You say why? Because, turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter three. Because the Bible commands us to be loving towards our brothers and sisters. That's why. As Christians, I've said this before, but as Christians that follow the Bible, we're pretty easy to be taken advantage of. Because we're commanded to be friendly whether or not somebody's friendly to us. See? So, I mean, you'll find one side of relationships a lot in a church. Even though out in the world you might not find it that much, in a church, you will find it. Now, don't get me wrong, right? I'm not talking about things like, here's things that's okay between friends. Like, hey, I'm putting this kitchen floor in and I don't have a circular sauce. Like, hey, brother, just use mine for four days. It'll save you 200 bucks. That's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is this kind of life support type of help or type of friendliness that people are giving people, right? Because look, is it a sin to borrow a circular sauce from somebody? But look at 2 Thessalonians 3. This is the difference. So now I'm kind of talking to the friendly people right now. All right? If you're friendly, listen up. If you're friendly and you were sitting here thinking for the first half of this sermon, like, man, that's me. I'm always helping people and doing this. I'm a pretty friendly guy. Woo, you know, and you're all just listening up now. Look at 2 Thessalonians 3 in verse number 10. The Bible says, for even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. But let's continue. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busy by. So look, the Bible says that there's these people that are not working in the church here at this time. All right? And the Bible says that if they don't work, they should need. But look, it says that these are disorderly people. These are disorderly people. They're busy bodies. That what these people, what I'm trying to get at is these people are in sin. Okay? These people that Paul is talking about here are in sin. They're disorderly, they're busy bodies, they're not working. They're doing these things that are sinful. So look, look, friendly people. If you, look, did Jonathan, what was David, was Jonathan helping David sin? Think about it. Jonathan helped David greatly in his life when they were both alive. But was he helping him sin? So friendly person, friendly Christian, who will do anything for anybody. Are you helping people sin? Are you? Because that is not being friendly. That is not the friendliness that the Bible is talking. You are encouraging disorderly behavior in that case. Look, David was being sinned against. David was in a hard place. So look, good friendliness is this. Somebody is being persecuted by a wicked person. You know, a wicked person. Somebody is being persecuted by a wicked person like David was being persecuted by Saul and his friends stepped in and did whatever he could to help him. That is good friendliness, the Bible says. But look, if you're helping sin, you're encouraging disorderly behavior, because look, some people just need to get hungry. Some people need to get a little cold. And that is what helps them. That's what they need. Otherwise, you're hurting them. So look, I mean, you have to have a biblical definition of what it means to be friendly. Look, moms, moms out there. Let me tell you a story of this man named Glenn Cunningham. Because look, these people, these leeches that exist in churches, in society, everywhere, these leeches are created. They're created. And look, I hate to break it to you, but let me tell you something about character. If you're 35 years old or you're 40 years old and you're a leech, you're probably always gonna be a leech because character is defined early. And look, with God, all things are possible, okay? Anybody can change. But secular studies will tell you that your character is pretty much set by the time you're 30. So moms, the mom that wants to just appease and just give everything to their child. When the mom puts dinner on the table and the child says, I want chicken nuggets or whatever. Look, that's wicked as hell and it needs to be stopped because you're gonna create a leech. You're gonna create a leech that is un-thankful, see? It's, you're gonna create an un-thankful leech that will just leech off people for the rest of their life. Let me tell you about this man named Glenn Cunningham. Glenn Cunningham and his little brother. This is back in the 20s or 30s. They were in a school fire. Glenn's little brother died. His brother died in the fire. And Glenn's legs were horribly burned and his kneecaps were gone and he lost the toes on one of his feet and the doctors told his mother and his father that, look, we're gonna have to amputate his legs. And his parents wouldn't let him do it. And his mom, so he's horribly burned. They're like, he'll never walk again. He's got these two limbs attached to his body. They're gonna be useless. They'll probably get infected. They might kill him, all these things. Glenn's mother pushes Glenn to rub his legs and do this, you ever had a burn? You know how painful burns are? Burns, I mean, I've just burned like little parts of myself in my life. And the things that I remember about getting a bad burn, I remember like I got a motorcycle burn from a muffler on my leg. And the one thing I remember about that burn, my burn was that big, is it was just, it always hurt. It was constant pain until it healed. Glenn, his mother, she would sit there and she would rub his legs to do this physical therapy and teach him how to rub his legs. It was incredibly painful. You know, a woman of less character, a mother of less character would have just been like, you just lay there, honey, I'll just get you whatever you want, just stay there, just don't hurt. I don't want you to ever hurt. She's like, no, you have to do this. You have to rub your legs. He learned to rub his legs and do this. He became a world record holder for running the mile between 1934 and like 1937. He was literally the fastest man on earth for several years. This man who they're like, the legs are gone. We have to amputate them. But his mother and his father, I'm sure, pushed him through this painful process. You ever notice how the people with the most character that have done the most amazing things with their life have sometimes gone through the most difficult situations? So maybe moms, you shouldn't make excuses for every sin that your kid commits. Maybe mom, you should teach your kids that, you know what, they just need to push through things and do things the right way. Because look, it's the otherwise, I mean, you can create somebody of great moral character or you can create somebody who is used to having someone make excuses for them and they never feel like, I mean, these are the kids that are living in their mom's basement, the millennials that will never get married and never have any friends. This is who they are. So look, it's a huge thing to not give your kids every single thing that they ever wanted. Struggle is the one thing that defines character for people. It's a huge thing. You find me, I can't even imagine and even think about and even tell you all the stories of all the amazing people that there have been out there and it's because they've come from great struggle in their life. So struggle for your kids, don't be this person that's like, I'm gonna do everything for my kids. I'm just gonna do it. They're never gonna go through any kind of trouble. Oh, you're upset, Johnny? Let me fix that for you. No, you will ruin them. You will turn them into a leech. You will turn them into this person that is unthankful and is friendly to no one. And then you know what? People like Glenn Cunningham usually end up doing with their life. They usually end up, instead of being unthankful, they usually end up being these people who dedicate their lives to the service of others. Who dedicate their lives to just showing friendliness. And that's what he did. He created a school and a program. Booker T. Washington is very much the same. He came from a life of horrible struggle and he made it all the way and he committed the rest of his life to lifting up other people. Showing himself friendly. So the question this morning is not, do you have friends? Who cares? That means nothing. Are you friendly is the question. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.