Friendship

Friendship is rare on earth. It means identity in thought and heart and spirit. Think for a moment of the few friends that have been with you through thick and thin. What was it about them that caused you to have such affection for them? What attributes gave you a deep sense of trust and vulnerability with them? I believe that in order to really be successful in this life as Christ disciples then we have to understand the role of friendship.

Jesus Himself said in John 15 that he no longer calls us servants, but friends. He also said that no greater love has anyone than to lay down his life for his friends. This truly is profound and the place where all friendship starts. We have to understand that we are friends of God, if Christ be in you and the fruit you bear is good, then you are a friend of God. God longs for family. He is a family man! He puts the lonely in families as David said in the Psalms. He releases the spirit of adoption and sonship in us. We are sons and daughters of a good Father.

Friendship...the journey of growing deep love, trust, authenticity, vulnerability, and affection is what we are after or rather should be after in the body of Christ. It is risky and will cost, but we must create and sustain deep, healthy friendships that reproduce other deep, healthy friendships that go on to change the world.

I am passionate about this and long to see a reformation of healthy relationships and friendships in the body that cause the world to see Jesus in such a beautiful and powerful way. Let us do away with the pointing finger, cursing someone under our breath. Let us rid ourselves of anything that would stand in the way of love. Love alone wins in the end. How well we learned to love will be the thing that we will be judged on. Not how big our ministry was, or how successful we became, or any number of things. How well we loved our brother and sister, our neighbor and the stranger, our wives and our children. This is what matters.

Friendship...a true gift from God.