To be fully HUMAN — A Daily Reflection

 

"You are my friends…"

 

One of the greatest needs we have is friendship.  One of the greatest difficulties we have is that we don’t know how to be friends.  Most of us spend our lives in a continually lonely state, wishing for friends…. wishing for that close, intimate relationship we all crave so desperately.  But friendship is something for which we have no training… we’re convinced that we don’t have a good role model.  So our friendships are on a very superficial level, never reaching that intimacy that is essential to true friendship.

 

Most of us fail to realize that we DO have a role model – the best role model in the world.  We do have a pattern to follow, if we’ll only look in the right direction.  Friendship is a dynamic that Jesus brought when He created the world…. a need He put into each of us to have deep, personal relationships with others.  Through each and every thing He does, Jesus illustrates to us how we can have that kind of deep, intimate relationship.  So the only way we can truly know how to be a friend is to use Jesus as our role model.

 

Let’s look at some of the qualities Jesus shows us that are qualities of a friend… 

 

First of all, He laid down His life for us.  Part of being a friend is being willing to "lay down your life" for that friend… and this doesn’t necessarily mean to physically die for your friends.  It also means to put aside your personal needs and wants in favor of the needs and wants of your friend. 

 

Another quality is faithfulness.  Jesus is always there, always beside us, never turning away when things get bad.  We can always depend on Jesus.  Our friends should always be able to depend on us. 

 

Jesus shares His deepest thoughts with us, the intimate details of His heart.  This, too, is part of being a friend - sharing our lives with others in a deep and intimate way. 

 

Then there is love.  Unconditional love.  Jesus’ love for you and me doesn’t go away when we sin.  He doesn’t stop loving us when we fail Him.  He doesn’t stop loving us when we embarrass Him.  He doesn’t stop loving us when we don’t love Him back.  Our love for our friends must be unconditional, too.  What is true, unconditional love… the kind of unconditional love Jesus gives to us?  It is not an emotion… it is a conscious commitment of your will to do whatever is in the best interest of the other person, no matter how you feel about it or how it will affect you.  That’s the kind of love Jesus demonstrated for us on the cross, in that while we were yet sinners, He died for us.  He voluntarily went to the cross for you and for me, even though He really didn’t want to (Luke 22:41-44), and even though He knew how unimaginable the pain of the cross would be.

 

These are just a few of the many ways that Jesus shows us how to be a friend.  If we use Him as our role model, we can be the kind of friend to others that He is to us.  Are you a Jesus kind of friend to others?  Think about it.