book details

Book: At the Heart of Friendship by Kathy Collard Miller

categories: Book, Bible Study, Women of Bible, Women's Bible Study, Christian Living, Spiritual Growth, Christian Family, Christian Relationships, Marriage, Parenting, Conflict Resolution, Anger Management, Friendship

Kathy Collard Miller

about this book: Friendships are truly gifts from God and yet we sometimes wonder why some friendships are blessings and others create stress. God knew how our friends would bring both responses in our lives and has unique ideas in each response for drawing us closer to Him. The friendships of blessing are His intention to encourage and inspire us. The ones which bring distress He intended to draw us closer to Himself as we seek Him. He designed both kinds—and all the in-between—as vehicles for developing our godly character and encouraging greater trust in Him.

Of course, I have experienced all the varieties as every person has. And I'm sure I've been both kinds—and all the in-between—to others, both knowingly and unknowingly. That's why I loved writing At the Heart of Friendship. I wanted to help myself to a healthy dose of God's perspective and I wanted to share with others how they can make better choices in finding good friends, blessing others, and responding to friendship challenges in godly ways.

As with the other books in my Daughters of the King Bible study series, I designed ten lessons appropriate for both individual study and for groups. The ten topics studied in this study are:
• Understanding God's purpose for friendships
• Resisting envy and jealousy
• Being friends in marriage
• Overcoming competition
• Relationships of neediness
• Being friends with our children
• Handling conflicts between friends
• Differing personalities
• Mentoring friendships
• The Ultimate Friendship with Jesus

In every lesson, I include thought-provoking questions based on Scripture or an opportunity for heart-examination. I also include commentary resulting from my in-depth research into the Bible. Every lesson provides an opportunity to study women in the Bible and ends with my signature "Letter From God."