Close Friends of the Opposite Sex

[shipwrecksoul]

A married man's disallowance of a female best friend other than his wife is not a choice made in fear...rather a decision based on righteousness and wisdom.
Simply my thoughts

I second that emotion (I could not resist)
By smokey robinson,
:lightbulb

 

[aristotle]

How is that Christ-like?

There is no fighting allowed in this forums, and please don't misunderstand the forum rules about that.

chad, i haven't misunderstood the forum rules at all. And i figure that if the apostle paul took steps to correct those who had tried to misquote or misrepresent him then so can i. that is known as debate and argumentation. i would do no different if i were setting in the same room across a table from you or anyone else and, frankly, so would you as i'm sure you have before.

to shipwrecksoul: if i misunderstood your intent, as you say, then i apologize to you and repent of my error. to be honest though, you gave me nothing more to go on concerning your intent than a single question.

straight up boys, i contend that it is perfectly possible to have or continue friendships with the opposite sex even while married. any relationship is acceptable as long as it operates within the confines of HOLY manners and character. if at any time the relationship wanders from those boundaries then sin will come in and the devil will have a heyday. And forget the talk of temptation cause we all have had temptations about those whom we did not know at all but simply passed by. do i then simply divorce myself from ever stepping out of my house to go grocery shopping or pay bills? God forbid!!!

as one dear brother put it so well, "if i remember that the one of the opposite sex is a creation of God and His child and love them His way then the enemy is stopped in his tracks on tempting me." besides i can not be tempted with what i do not desire. i hate cream of wheat. i eat it and just want to regurgitate. what possible temptation could it be to me? none! such is the case here. but if a brother is weak in that area then as i said in my previous post 'don't do it'. that would be the greatest wisdom for you and for that i salute you in being honest with yourself. i also hope, though, that you would eventually mature in your walk and faith so that would no longer be the case. if you know you're weak then strengthen yourself in the Lord. i know it won't happen overnight but by faith in His Name it can happen.

And just to put a smile on all your faces again i promise that this will be the last time i post on this thread. believe it or not (your choice) i do bless you and love you. it truly has not been my intent to offend just for offend's sake. any one can do that. i have simply upheld the notion of co-gendered friendships and i would not restrain another from it because i know the beauty of it. my sister and friend is a wonderful treasure to me and i honor her before the Lord. she and my wife get along beautifully and i have encouraged that since i want them to be best friends as well.

may Father bless you all with the abundance of His Grace!

 

[smile]

I think its wrong to be so "buddy-buddy" with the oppisate sex and share privat matters that only concern yourself and your spouse. its ok to have them as friends but I never think it is ok for someone to hang out with a person of the oppisate sex that they are not married to one-on-one, only in groups to avoid temptation.

 

[will]

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

If we try to run from, or resist temptations on our own strength, we may be able to do that for a while, but we surely will crack under relentless attacks. The only thing that can protect us from temptations is to obtain the peace of God, which is the product of a growing relationship between us and the Lord under the influence of the Holy Spirit and constant nourishments from the Scriptures.

 

[Maranatha2013]

I appreciate all the threads and comments about this subject but let's have a look about the meeting between Jesus and the Samaritan woman (John 4). It gives us a good example how Jesus helped her to confess her sins and became a new creature and evangelist as well. What I want to say is that God sometimes uses us to help people who were depressed or troubled because of their harmful past and wounds. We call this ministry as Counselling but we must be careful if that happened between close friends of the opposite sex.