Do you have many friends? Or have you, like so many people, never really learned the secret of how to make friends? We make friends by becoming a friend. In some ways, we receive back that which we give. Look at these Scriptures:

• “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged. And with the measure you use, it will be measured again for you” (Matthew 7:1-2).
• “Therefore, everything you would like men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12).
• “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6).

Think, speak, and act positively, and lovingly and you will find that you receive in turn loving and positive thoughts and words and deeds. In the physical world, it is Newton’s Third Law of Motion: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. But, it is just as true in the psychological and spiritual world. In fact, the speech research unit of Kenyon College proved through many tests that if a person is shouted at, he almost always shouts back.

Ask God to help you to be more loving, more generous, more kind, more Christlike.

God, You are the Giver. When we give it is in imitation of You. Help us to be givers with a thankful heart, not to give in order to get something back but because we wish to share Your bounty.