We Weren’t Made to Do Life Alone

If God intended for us to do life alone, we’d be able to put sunscreen on our own backs.

I heard that once and laughed out loud but the more I sat with it, the more I realized how true it is. We aren’t meant to live this life in isolation. We were designed for connection, for community, for friendship. Even Jesus, the Savior of the world, chose to live in deep relationship with others. He didn’t do ministry alone—He walked with people, invited them in, shared meals, showed up in their lives, and let them into His.

And yet, I say all this as someone who knows how difficult it can be to form genuine friendships.

I’ve never met a person who didn’t crave some form of friendship—whether they were surrounded by a tight knit group or were aching to find just one person who truly saw them. But if friendship is something so many of us long for, why does it feel so hard to find?

When we were younger, it was easy. Friendships came out of convenience. You sat next to someone in class, shared a lunch table, or played on the same team, and before you knew it, you had a best friend.

But as adults? It’s different.

There’s fear involved now—questions that live in the back of our minds like:

What if they think I’m too much? What if we don’t click? What if I’m trying way too hard and it shows?

There’s so much pressure to be who we think someone wants us to be, instead of simply showing up as ourselves.

But what if that changed?

What if we pursued friendships not for what we could gain, but for what we could give?

What if the goal wasn’t to be loved—but to love well?

That’s the kind of friendship Jesus modeled for us. He loved people not because of what they could offer Him, but because He truly loved them.

I’ve noticed something about myself in friendships—sometimes, I’m so quick to jump in with my own story or opinion that I completely miss what the other person just said. And if I’m being honest, that doesn’t just make me a distracted friend… it makes me a disconnected one.

We all want to be seen, heard, known—but what if being a real friend means offering that first to someone else?

Maybe as you read this, someone is coming to mind. Someone you want to know better. Someone you want to be a better friend to. Let this be the encouragement you need to go for it. Reach out. Show up.

Model the kind of friendship you’d want to receive—not so that you will receive it, but because it’s what love does. Because that’s what Jesus did.

“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”

— Proverbs 17:17

I want to be this kinds of a friend. The sunscreen-applying, truth-telling, Jesus-reflecting kind. What about you?