Friend-ish: Reclaiming Real Friendship in a Culture of Confusion

Written by Kelly Needham

Narrated by Kelly Needham

For so many of us, our friends are like family members--we lean on them through our highest highs and our lowest lows--but sometimes those friendships don't turn out quite as we hoped. Bible teacher Kelly Needham debunks our world's constricted, narrow view of friendship and casts a richer, more life-giving, biblical vision for friendship.

In Friend-ish, Kelly Needham reminds us that we were called to more than halfhearted friendships and lukewarm connections. We need something more stable, secure, and sacred. We were designed for real friendship--but the difficult truth is that too many of us are settling for less. 

Kelly deconstructs what Scripture says about the gift of friendship and takes a closer look at the distorted view that most of us have instead. As she shares the lessons she's learned from experience, Kelly paints her own glorious vision of what Christian friendship could look like.

With hard-fought wisdom, a clear view of Scripture, and a been-there perspective, Friend-ish teaches us how to:

• Recognize symptoms of idolatry and toxic dependency
• Boldly ask for what we need from our community of friends
• Understand and address the problems that arise in friendship--from neediness to discord
• Recognize when it's time to end an unhealthy friendship
• Reorient toward the purposeful, loving relationships we all crave that ultimately bring us closer to God
• Find the friends you need and start to become that friend for others

Join Kelly as she challenges you to view your chosen family in a new light, gain a vision of friendship according to Jesus, and finally enjoy friendships as God intended.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: Aug 27, 2019
• ISBN: 9781400213627

Kelly Needham

Kelly Needham is a servant of Jesus Christ, a student of the Bible, and COO of her home, where she lives with her husband, Jimmy, and their five children. She is the author of Friendish: Reclaiming Real Friendship in a Culture of Confusion and has been a contributing author to many other books, including Faithful and Beautifully Distinct. She has served on staff at two different churches, serving in youth, college, and women’s ministry. Kelly currently coleads a women’s teaching program at her church, training women to accurately handle the word of truth and cohosts the Clearly podcast with Jimmy. Whether writing or speaking, Kelly’s aim is to convince as many people as possible that nothing compares to knowing Jesus.

Reviews for Friend-ish

[Elizabeth Bruffey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent book! Biblically solid and profound. Gives great insight into current issues with problematic friendships and biblical truth about God's purposes for friendships.

[Rebecca Knappenberger · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A needed conversation on the true & deeper purpose of friendship, and a re-focusing on Christ as our most valued friend—who meets us & nourishes us like no other.

[Kristine Hope Arenas · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It constantly talks about the sin problem of man, which is the root cause of unhealthy friendships and Kelly points out the readers to the scripture.

[Natalia · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Such a great book regarding a topic that it feels like very few people take the time to really go deep into . I started reading it bc the women from my church was going to study this book together and honestly I wasn’t really excited about a subject that didn’t really feel like I needed to survey. However, I was completely wrong and was surprised at so many great insights that Kelly Needham brought up about godly friendships and how we should look at friendships from a Christian perspective. Really feel like I learned a lot after listening to this book and gave me many things to ponder about.

[Charlene Busuru · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The wisdom I’ve gleaned from this book not only demands that I be a better, genuine, true and loving friend to others, but also shows me how!! For that, I am grateful.

[Abigail Larsen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I cannot recommend this book enough! It was so convicting and encouraging at the same time. It caused me to examine my relationships through a whole new light. Thank you Kelly for writing this book. It is the book that I didnt know I needed to read so desperately.

[Alexis Christenson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A wonderful book showing how to avoid ungodly friendships and how to be a godly friend. I am very grateful to have found this book during a season of really needing some direction on how to ‘friend’.