"You've never lived 'til you've met Christ!" ~Steve Fernandez

"You've never lived 'til you've met Christ!" ~Steve Fernandez
"You've never lived 'til you've met Christ!" ~Steve Fernandez

Saturday, July 17, 2010

It's Not Easy Being A Friend

Throughout our lives all of us will experience different friendships. Some are constant and some get put on hold for awhile and then they reunite again. Some, because of our sin, come to an end completely. Only as a Christian can you truly experience true friendship. The main ingredient to a successful friendship is love, and because God is love, if you are not one of God's children through Christ, you can never truly be a friend to someone. Proverbs 17:17 says "A friend loves at all times." That verse pretty much sums up everything, but if you really want to get into the details you have to dig deeper. In order to love someone at all times involves labor and sacrifice. John 15:12-13 says, "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." Wow, now that's sacrifice- laying down one's life for their friends! Now we know the One who has done that for us, Jesus Christ. Friendship is a lot of hard work. You can't just be in your own world, do your own thing and wake up one day and expect to have strong friendships without you putting some effort into it. As sinners it is so tempting to just throw in the towel and say "I give up!", but that is not what Christ calls us to do and that's not what He did with us. Friendship also requires loving honesty. Proverbs 27:5-6 says, "Better is open rebuke than love that is concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy." Sometimes being a friend and truly loving someone means having to tell them the truth when no one else will. Yeah it might hurt for a minute, but when you count the cost in the long run it is worth it. Friendship is a two-way street and if you make your life a one-way path, it is going to get pretty lonely. Let us look to Christ as our perfect example of a true friend, the One who laid down His life for us.