A Friend for Us, To Be A Friend to Each Other

Friendship

While competing for the PGA Tour Championship and a 10-million-dollar purse, Tiger Woods and Sean O’Hair displayed an example of friendship for the entire world to see. O’Hair and Woods were playing a practice round together preceding the beginning of the final playoff tournament. Woods noticed a correctable error in O’Hair’s putting stroke and brought it to his attention. During the next day’s tournament, O’Hair, using the putting tip, was one stroke ahead of Woods. When asked if he had any regrets about giving O’Hair the tip that allowed him to take the lead in such an important tournament, Woods replied, “Sean is a friend of mine, and like all my friends, you always try to make their life better somehow. That’s the whole idea of having friends in your life.” Building friendships requires an investment of time and energy. And sometimes, it requires sacrifice.

Think about the people whom you designate as friends needs to be taken very seriously. The foundation of friendship is love. Looking at this lesson taught by Jesus, He begins this lesson with a commandment. Before we can even get to friendship let us understand the relationship that Jesus has created with us. “This is My commandment that you love one another as I have loved you”.

There’s no way that you can truly have frienship within this world without love. The best friendships should be friendships that are sustained by sacrificial love.

Considering the essence of friendship let us be mindful of the fact that friendship has conditions. Romans 12:9 “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.”

In order to be a friend one must understand the power of clinging to the right thing. Hypocrisy is deeper than saying one thing and doing another it is truly the ability to speak words that describe love yet their acts lack genuineness and sincerity.

Jesus informs us in this way so that we understand that joy is necessary for our spiritual walk. “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full”. Love brings joy to the heart. To know that I’m surrounded by people that love me brings joy, to know that I can love in a sacrificial way and know that God can place people in my life that can love me in the same way should bring joy to my heart.

Love is what makes the church sustainable. We do not have Jesus if it were not for love, love is the basis of why God sent Jesus in the first place. Friendship begins when we are able to love each other as Jesus loved us.

Love one another the WAY Jesus has loved us. Jesus has loved us despite our mistakes, despite our differences, despite our inconsistencies, despite our personal problems, pursue love! A lot of the reason we can’t sustain healthy relationships is because we are not clinging to what is good, we are holding on to every negative!

He Laid Down His Life

John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”

Jesus did this because it was his purpose, it was his calling. In spite of that Jesus did it because He is our friend. Are you willing to put your life on the line for your friends?

In effort to get to this place of sacrificial love it takes us to walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma.

Aside from friendship, to experience the true love of Jesus depends on our obedience. Obedience require sacrifice sometimes. In effort to sacrifice sometimes it take obedience, sometimes what’s obedient is something that requires the denial of self and understanding that what Jesus is asking us to do is bigger than our personal feelings in the moment. In effort to love one another we have to love Jesus and love the will that He has on our life.

In effort to add nutrients to your spirit requires love. It’s imperative that we understand that love, peace and joy work hand in hand. But remember it begins with love. If we can’t love each other, we can’t have joy. If we can’t love each other we can’t have peace!

Jesus was able to lay down His life was not solely based on his calling but His ability to abide in the will of God! It’s imperative that we understand that friendship is a calling.

Follow the Way Jesus did it

Love one another the way Jesus loved us, be willing to put your life on the line for your friends. Jesus did not let the idea of an enemy get in the way of Him loving! He knew Judas was a betrayer, nonetheless His ability to serve was greater than the idea of betrayal.

Friendship is defined by obedience. This is not a one sided attempt for Jesus to control our lives, He made the sacrifice first! Just like the relationship of Jesus and God requires obedience so does our relationship with each other! As we obey Jesus in love it should translate to our relationship with one another. I love you because Jesus loved me. Friendship is about letting people in. There’s no way you can be a friend without vulnerability. You are going to have to be open with each other in effort to truly be a friend. John 15:15 “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” Jesus doesn’t hide anything from us, Jesus let us know what He is thinking and what He is planning. John 14:2 “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”

Submission and obedience is about position and protection

Our submission, our obedience is in response to the covering that God has placed over our lives with Jesus. Friends should be a sense of protection and not just a person to indulge in common activities with.

Don’t let a persons proximity push you to believe the friendship is a lot stronger than it actually is. Friends don’t catch up, friends pick up where they left off.

Friendship sets expectations, this is not just a reference to salvation but a reference to service. Jesus does what He does not only for eternal life but so that we can serve one another. There’s no way we can friendship without service! The idea of service is not bondage but freedom, it focuses on the benefit. Bondage has no benefits, but the return of service in the realm of friendship is priceless! The difference in bondage is the fact of choice! Jesus chose us so we can choose each other.

Friendship is Fruit Bearing

We always understand the investment of fruit bearing. Friendships go through seasons. Things die off, nonetheless with the right cultivation it will bloom at the right time if we take care of the plant of friendship.

Friendships go through storms but the beautiful essence of storms is the fact that in all the calamity a beautiful flower blooms out of the storm. The root is this, love one another! When we love one another, no matter what the friendship goes through it will grow back greater!

The best friendship is defined by mutual responsibility! It’s never one sided! Jesus died, therefore we obey! Jesus informs therefore we encourage, Jesus died for us so we could serve each other!

A slave obeys blindly and without insight about his master’s purposes. Jesus, however, chose to make those who fellowship with Him His friends. He is not satisfied with servile obedience but with motivation that comes from love.

A true friend of Jesus knows what his Master is doing. One-sided friendship is not true friendship. True friendship involves sharing of information and responsibilities. Jesus gives full-disclosure to His “friends.” He withholds nothing they need from them. Freedom comes through knowledge. Followers of Jesus are the objects of divine revelation. This privilege comes from their relationship to Him. However, there is a proclivity to fly to speculations beyond what Jesus and His apostles have revealed to us.