John 15:12-13 “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lays down his life for his friends.”
The other night I was watching a television program called “Suits”. In this episode, one of the main character’s friends called him from jail and asked him if he could come and bail him out. Now mind you, the main character was totally and completely blown away because he had done this. Because they had a huge blow out argument, in his mind he thought he had completely and totally destroyed and ruined their relationship of twenty years. When the main character asked his friend why did you call me to bail you out of jail, his response was that he knew and believed that out of all the people he knew, and out of all of his so-called friends that he knew that he would be the only one who would come and get him. Because he was the only true friend that he has ever had.
Friendships are the greatest relationships that we need to grow and nurture. Just like any given relationship, it takes time and effort to grow, and cultivate. These relationships are beautiful and amazing and can also be very time consuming and even can be classified a ‘high maintenance’. But, just like any other relationship, it is totally worth any and all of the effort needed to grow it into maturity.
We have the ability to grow and nurture healthy, loving friendships if we follow the commands that Jesus has given us concerning them. It’s quite simple – “Love each other as I have loved you.” Wow! What a great formula for developing solid friendships! So, what are we to do? We are to love our friends the way that Christ loved us. Christ’s love for us is unconditional, and His love is given to us sacrificially. What does this sacrificial love mean? It means that Jesus put the needs and desires of others before His. Even if it meant that He would lose things that were important to Him. Christ also exhibited awesome character qualities of compassion, kindness, forgiveness, caring and giving. And, let’s not forget that He willingly gave His life for ours.
So as we develop new friendships, or as we continue to build and nurture our existing friendships, let us take to heart what Jesus desires us to do in this area of our lives. Let’s love sacrificially, develop listening skills, give of ourselves and be encouraging. If you do that with the other character qualities of Jesus we talked about, you are on the road to being a true friend.
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