It is important to have friends who are also Children of God – people with whom you can discuss the Bible and things of God. You will spend two hours discussing the Bible with such persons and it would seem as if you have only been together for five minutes. They are friends with whom you discuss what God is currently teaching you in the Scriptures, they do likewise and then you just keep going deeper into Scriptural teachings about different issues. This is what the Bible refers to as iron sharpening iron and friends sharpening each other's countenance (Proverbs 27:17).

You need your spiritual countenance sharpened regularly and these conversations go a long way in doing that. In these kinds of conversations, you are not being preached to, so it is a two-way thing. As you and your friend or friends study the Bible together, you begin to see more clearly some hitherto blurry areas of the Scriptures or even understand better some of the things happening in your life. In the process of doing this, your spiritual countenance and outlook are sharpened.

These conversations have a way of impacting you differently from the way a message being preached from the altar would. This is one of the great benefits of the House Fellowship system which we operate in The Redeemed Christian Church of God. There is no Pastor in the House Fellowship, just a leader to coordinate things; everyone is just to discuss the word of God from their own perspective.

If you don’t have such people with whom you discuss Scriptures, you need to either change your friends or make new ones. If you are now so busy that you don’t have much time to spend with friends, at least have such conversations with your spouse. Even now, my wife and I still have such conversations. I remember not so long ago when we were discussing the great power that must have been in the meal Elijah ate in 1 Kings 19:5-8 which gave him strength for 40 straight days. It is always very interesting when you can find someone who is more knowledgeable in Scriptures than you; you are likely to leave such a meeting really charged up.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.