Three Friendships that Refresh the Soul

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command…This is my command: Love each other.  John 15:12-14,17

Who is your best friend?  How much time do you spend with your friends?  If you had to pick one friend to take a long journey with, who would you choose? Why?

A friendship that refreshes the soul is a blessing to have.  God has called us His friend.  We are not here on earth to be His servants, but His friend.  All He asks from us is to love each other. It seems so simple to say, three little words: love each other.  But sometimes it is not easy to love each other, is it?

How could we both be right?  We were at odds with each other, and both of us hurt and both of us feeling we were right.  How could we both be so right and so wrong at the same time?  Sisters in Christ played like pawns against each other by the one that seeks to destroy.

The good news for my friend and I that day is that we have a familiar friend in Jesus.  After everything was done and said, after the dust had settled, the situation was clear.  We knew we had been duped by the enemy.  God had been there the whole time, holding each of us in His loving arms, fighting for us to see His truth.

Each of us, in the midst of the battle, had gone to our Father in prayer.  I love that in the end, we knew God had been with each of us and cared for each of His daughters equally.  I have to admit after the dust had settled, I could also see more clearly the sin that I had engaged in, the unforgiveness I had pushed onto a friend.  I needed to go to my Father in prayer again and do the cleanup work.  The work of confession and repentance.  I am glad I did, now I can walk in freedom and continue to love my friend without the baggage of unforgiveness.

I have learned so much about friendships from my friendship with God.  Let’s look at some of the friendships in the Bible:

The world had just begun when the Lord created the first human friendship. He knew that our soul would be lonely, so He formed a friendship.

The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him. Genesis 2:18

God has given us in our marriage a good friend, but sometimes Mr. Right gets tired of talking about fashion, emotions and the latest freezer meal plan.  God has also provided for us deep friendships where our very souls are knitted to another.   These become our best friends.  Like David and Jonathan, He has provided us with the right person at the right time to help and encourage us. These kinds of friendships are where we do life together, and this is always worth the effort because we come to love our friend’s soul as much as our own.

As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.  1 Samuel 18:1 (ESV)

What a friend we have in Jesus.  Earthly friendships can sometimes be messy because we as humans are messy.  We need all three of these friendships.  Our friendship with Jesus is not a backup plan or a place to go only when we are experiencing strife in one of the other areas of friendship.  Our friendship with Jesus is one that He initiated, and we are to respond to.  Our verse today tells us exactly how we are to respond to His friendship….love one another.

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.  Proverbs 18:24

As a Warrior of Hope, we can enjoy all three of these friendships. Having a friend in Jesus is a tremendous first friendship to cultivate and use as a model for our other friendships.  Let’s pray for real friendships.

A Warrior of Hope is a friend to others

Heavenly Father teach me to love others as you have loved me.  Let others see in me the kindness, love, and compassion that you have shown to me.  As you abide with me as my friend, help me to be the best friend possible to others.  Thank you for your friendship.  Amen