Friendship

Which brings me to my topic for this week. I'd love some of your feedback on friendship.

My idea of friendship is that it reflects I Corinthians 13. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut. Doesn't have a swelled head, doesn't force itself on others. Isn't always me first, doesn't fly off the handle, doesn't keep score of the sins of others, doesn't revel when others grovel, takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, puts up with anything, trusts God always, Always looks for the best, never looks back but keeps going to the end.

I'm not talking about acquaintance kind of friendship, but the intimate kind, the lifetime kind, the kind that you say to each other," we'll be friends for life" and then you mean it. No matter what comes to try and divide you-you recognize the one who sows discord and you say no way. There are those who will come and go in our lives, but there are those who will be there or should be there always. Jesus had the 3 that He spent the most time with, then the 12, then the 70, then the masses, but He didn't develop the same intimacy with the crowd as He did the 12. In the end they all wound up abandoning Him, or denying Him- yet He came back and restored them to their previous state of friendship. He gave Peter opportunity to become the mighty man of God- the Rock he was called to be. He gave Thomas the opportunity to become the man of faith he was supposed to be, he gave them all the benefit of His forgiveness, His love and His friendship.

What do we give one another? Are you a lifelong friend? Are you willing to lay down your pride and restore friendship? Or do you let them go? Knowing that God even called you to them? And at what price are we sacrificing friendships? Do we continue on in the call of God and ministry to others when things go askew? Or do we withdraw and put up those awful walls? Do we become angry and bitter people or do we obey the Word of God and do all that is in our power to reconcile?

That line, love believes the best is so powerful! The Bible says, he who tells a matter first seems to be right. When someone comes to you with some stuff about a friend, we have a choice at that moment to listen or to be the friend we should be. The problem is, we don't think another brother would lie to us, so we listen and then those terrible seeds of discord are sown (which God hates by the way). I recognize when people have faults, but don't you be the one to tell me. SMILE I'll find out what I need to know and I will love them anyway and restore them when I need to. I trust the Lord that He knows what I need to know, I have His mind. And He has been faithful to us always, just ask one of our kids.

Ask God why that person is acting that way, what is wrong in their heart and then pray for them. If your motives are right, He will let you know that something has happened, or you will ask them and they will tell you, and you have saved a relationship that the enemy was trying to destroy. Friends know each other's stuff, love you in spite of it, can have a year or two apart and come back together and be good friends again, can forgive, can forget, can talk about anything and don't judge each other for wrong attitudes and ideas, in other words, we love because He first loved us.

IF there is anything that we can learn at this time it is that there is nothing that should be able to separate us from each other, because we are in Christ and who can separate us from His love? By our love they will know we are His disciples.