Tuesday, May 28, 2013 -- Friendship-having Friends, Making Friends, Being A Friend (2)

Friends trust and rely on each other.  They may not always agree but will respect one another's differences.  Friends are kind and understanding towards one another.  They stand together in times of trouble even when others can't or won't stand with them.  Friends celebrate the good times and encourage each other during the bad times.  They tell each other the truth -- both the truth one likes to hear as well as the truth one doesn't want to hear but needs to.

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.  My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; on behalf of a man he pleads with God as one pleads for a friend. (Proverbs 17:17, Job 16:20-21 NIV)

The bottom line of all healthy relationships is that we help each other know and serve God well.  We need to pattern our lives after those who, despite difficulties, are successfully living their lives for Christ.  It’s important to learn from their example and to hold our lives up before them for their counsel.  Those who fail to examine themselves in light of God’s word, and the advice of good friends, often end up enslaved by destructive habits and dependencies.  Full life, however, can be experienced by trusting Jesus Christ and following his example.  Jesus was a good friend to 12 men who became His disciples and He served and taught them well.  Jesus also received friendship from these men in return. 

Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example.  For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ.  Their future is eternal destruction.  Their god is their appetite.  They brag about shameful things and all they think about is this life here on earth.  But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives.  (Philippians 3:17-20 NLT)