There is No Greater Friendship Than With Christ

Danielle Heckenkamp reflects on the lack of personal connection in our world and considers how to teach our children about our most important relationship. 

As mothers, we have one of the most difficult yet fruitful vocations in this life. Raising souls for Christ’s kingdom is not for the light-hearted, but God offers us the necessary graces to continue on this path and assist our little ones to build personal relationships with our Creator. In our fast-paced world, driven too much by social media trends, we have desensitized ourselves to the importance of personal connections.

God created us to be social beings with each other, but more importantly to develop a connection with Him. From an early age, children desire to play near each other, even before they figure out how to play together. That inner desire to give and receive human connection is not inconsequential. Unfortunately, our world continues to find excuses to pursue technological advances without seriously considering the impact they will have on current and future generations. And as mothers, we are stuck in the cross-roads of raising souls for the kingdom of God and teaching these dear ones to live in the world, but not of the world.

With every new tech device, new applications released, and new social media features updated, new worry pervades our hearts. This is where we dust off our boots and teach our children that these tools have practical uses but can never replace our relationships with Christ, our family, or our neighbors.

In Love with God

It is easy to talk about a relationship with God, but how do we pursue that friendship? By placing prayer as priority in our lives and practicing the virtue of Charity, God offers us exceptional graces to lead us towards sanctity. We must always remember the order of our duties in this life: duties to God, duties to ourselves, and duties to our neighbor.

As with everything in this life, prayer is of the utmost importance to foster a friendship with Christ. Each day should a prayer as we fulfill the duties of our vocations, frequent the Sacraments, allocate time for spiritual reading, attend Mass, and pray the Rosary with our families. Not only will we individually grow closer to Christ, but by our example, we pray that our children will desire to imitate these practices.

Pray First and Then Act

Prayers should govern our lives, and with a strong prayer life, we may advance further toward sanctity. Without being in the state of sanctifying grace, our souls will never be pleasing to God. Therefore, we must strive toward holiness and avoid sin at all costs.

With a strong prayer life, we have an opportunity to develop a friendship with Christ by having friendships with others. It is through the virtue of Charity that each one of us can move closer to the love of God. Too often, the world defines charity as abstract, with more subjectivity rather than objectivity. But such broad definitions come from secularism, rather than the Truths given by God. This life will never be easy, but developing a deeper friendship with God lightens the load of our sufferings. And what better way to obtain a closer friendship with God than by practicing the Theological virtue of Charity to those in our homes, our friends, and our neighbors.

If we combine our need to connect as social beings and the theological virtue of Charity, we have an opportunity to bring light to the darkness. The modern world focuses more on selfish desires rather than serving others, but the greatest means of showing love is through service. This is to give of ourselves not only when we feel strongly motivated to do so, but also during those moments when we are less inclined. That is true love and that is the basis of a deeper friendship with Christ.

Just as we experience dryness in the spiritual life, so too we experience dryness in the physical world. This is when our actions and service to others feel worthless and without recognition. However, we should never let these feelings limit our good works and prevent us from growing in virtue. As we grow in sanctity during the dry spiritual moments, so too we grow in sanctity when we are physically drained. During these times that we can push through and overcome our bodily limitations, while also teaching our children that true victory is only in Christ.

Rooted in Christ for Eternity

Our earthly lives must be rooted in Christ, and what better way to pass through this life than with Christ as our best friend? If Christ is first in our lives, then our family and our neighbors will be honored with the love and respect they deserve as beings created in God’s image and likeness. We may find technological tools quite useful, but nothing can replace a relationship with Christ and our neighbor. The things of this world will rot away one day, but the love the Christ and a soul in the state of sanctifying grace will never lose their connection with God. It will remain forever in heaven glorifying God among the angels and saints.

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Copyright 2026 Danielle Heckenkamp
Images: Canva