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Think of your BFs now. You probably can recognize the presence of these three components in different amounts. But you have to have all three. They are the basics that define a friendship and also a best friendship.
Best Friends
Now to your best friendships, a special category. If a friendship is when someone has access to the information that is you, then best friendship is when you hand over the key to the vault. That is, you let the person know you at the deepest and most vulnerable level. You invite them in to what is most important to you, your
• Dreams
• Vision for Life
• Feelings
• Core values
• Strengths
• Hurts
• Secrets
• Sins
• Mistakes
• Past
• Heartaches
These are not easy things to let others in on. But they are essential for having close friends. Handing over the key to the vault means you are saying, in essence, I entrust you with myself. Be safe for me and also help me be a better person. Just as a bank vault contains precious investments, your personal vault is something to be both preserved safely, without condemnation, and also developed and grown over time into something much richer.
A friend of mine attended a coaching team I was leading for professional people. He signed up for business growth with a personal twist. He didn’t know anyone on the team, yet a great deal of the time the team members spent with each other consisted of connection, honesty, and challenging each other to excellence. Over the months, he began developing relationships with these people, and he and his wife would go to dinner with other members and their spouses. The group became part of his normal network of friendships, as well as friends on a deeper level.
He didn’t expect this to happen, nor did he plan for it. But their shared commitment drew him in and an atmosphere of knowing, liking, and presence was created. The same thing happens every day in casual friendships that grow, in small groups, and in specialty groups sharing common hobbies and interests.
A best friend, then, is not someone who has some mysterious and unfathomable special quality no one else has.
Rather, she is someone who ideally has become a high priority relationship for you that you will invest in personally. You will find yourself wanting to know her at even deeper levels. You’ll find a growing and great well of love for her inside you, and become fiercely loyal to and protective of your time together, for it is vital to you both. That is the way it should work, and the way it works best.
BEST FRIENDS FOREVER
How do we know if a BF is really a BFF? When we use the word forever, we mean, “I don’t see an end to this relationship.” This is someone who is so important and special to me that they are in my Hall of Fame.
Excerpt taken from How to Be a Best Friend Forever: Making and Keeping Lifetime Relationships by Dr. John Townsend, published by Worthy Publishing a division of Worty Media, Inc. Copyright © 2011 Dr. John Townsend.
Jesus saw friends as central to His life. In John 15:15, He tells His disciples He will stop calling them servants: “Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I have learned from my Father, I have made known to you.”
Psychologist John Townsend’s How to Be a Best Friend Forever reveals the eight skills for building long-term friendships. He offers hope and help for making such relationships a reality—and for making them even better if you already have a best friend. His principles for building friendships, along with his own experiences, including his mistakes, will inspire you to create deeper connections in your life and help you find God, too, in a deeper way through having a best friend. Study guide included.
Hardcover : 192 pages
Publisher: Worthy Media, Inc. ( January 03, 2012 )
Item #: 13-531753
ISBN: 9781936034437
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.25 x 0.437inches
Product Weight: 11.0 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Sharing this book with local church book club. I had read it and couldn't put it down. Two others already reading it suggested it for our book of the month and are now in the process of purchasing. Those who are already reading, say as I have, it's hard to put it down. A great read.
Reviewer: Helen G
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