How do I get at least one true friend who is a strong believer and helps me have stronger faith in God?
One thing we need to understand is, it isn’t necessary that we’ll have Christian friends in our class or school of our same age. This shouldn't stop us from being a great friend to our classmates and others around us. Always be a person who builds healthy relationships with others. Some reminders that we can keep in mind.
1. We need to have a good relationship with Jesus. More than our friends and family, our primary motivation to love Jesus should be Jesus himself and what he did on the cross. So develop that personal relationship with Jesus – it’s a call to enjoy and savour him.
2. The need to be a good Christian friend to our other friends. Be the person who shows the character of Christ in all that we do. Remember that, God may have put you amongst them so that they ll see your life and learn good things and also so that you can be a blessing to them.
3. Keep praying and looking – Don’t give up hope. God will bring a good friend or a group of Christian friends when you pray about it without ceasing. Like any other request, make this plea also to God and he ll answer you at the right time.
4. The Christian friend needn’t be of the same age. There are good Christians who may be elder to you, somebody who can give you good and godly advice and counsel. Make sure when you find somebody like that, you keep in touch with them and seek good counsel from them. A mentor is a great friend to have who ll constantly encourage you to walk in God’s ways.
A personal experience – in my college, I didn’t have any good friends whom I could relate to and were Christians. And that did have a bad influence on me. But towards my final year in college I found a mentor who guided me(who was far away), prayed for me and to whom I was accountable. He was way older than I was. But the constant touch with him, helped me to get back on track. Now, he is still somebody I am in touch with and I have other Christian friends of my age too with whom I can pray and be accountable. So yes, I’d like to encourage you to not give up hope, but keep praying about it. God will bring the right circle of friends for you. God bless.