Grace Covers Me: Kelly Needham on Healthy (and Unhealthy) Friendship

Each week this season on By Faith I’m talking with a guest about the ins and outs of friendship. As I write about in my book Messy Beautiful Friendship, friendship isn’t easy for anyone; it takes time, intentionality, and lots of grace. And sometimes we have to navigate complexities and hurts in friendship that leave us uncertain and crushed. I’m right there with you, and my guests are here to help us think through it all.

Today my guest is Kelly Needham. Kelly is married to Jimmy, who is a recording artist and worship pastor. Kelly is also a mom and a writer and is in fact currently working on a book about friendship, which you’ll hear her talk about in our conversation. Because of her research, Kelly has thought long and hard about how we define friendship and our how definition often mirrors the world’s, which inevitably hurts and hinders us without us even realizing it. So she’s going to help us get to a healthier and more biblical understanding of friendship, and it’s a great foundation for all the conversations I’ll have as we go this season.

If you resonate with Kelly’s depiction of some unhealthy perspectives on friendship, I encourage you to read some of the articles she’s written that we briefly touched on in our conversation. I’ve linked to those in the show notes below, as well as to my own book, Messy Beautiful Friendship. My hope is that these conversations combined with a more indepth look at friendship in the book will help you as you think about the relationships in your life.

This season I’m going to jump on Instagram every Wednesday to answer any questions that you have about the latest episode. Come find me on Instagram stories and ask your question about my conversation with Kelly!

Listen to the episode on iTunes or, if you're on my website, in the embedded player below.

LINKS FROM THE SHOW