Unfriendly people care only about themselves. Proverbs 18:1 (NLT)
A starting point for developing healthy relationships is acquiring good friends. The starting point for acquiring good friends is looking beyond yourself and showing an interest in others.
The verse for today says that people who obsess over themselves do not present themselves to others as friendly. Conversely, Proverbs 18:24 in the KJV tells us that a person who desires friends must come across as friendly. Who would ever approach another person to develop a friendship if that person was obviously self-absorbed and unfriendly? Yet many of us behave this way. In many cases we do not intend to, but this is how we come across.
Not all of us are naturally outgoing, but all of us in any setting can be polite and show an interest in others. The other people are probably feeling the same way we do, so we have nothing to lose in reaching out. A smile is a great way to break the ice, and a simple introduction of ourselves will get things started. One more question to the other person, and a conversation has begun. Things will progress from there all because you smiled and made the first introduction.
Carl W. Buehner said, “They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” When you show an interest in others, they feel great and you have now taken the first step toward a healthy friendship.