| Author | Message | ||
| Agapetos Registered user Username: Agapetos Post Number: 324 Registered: 10-2002  |
What does the word "friend" mean to you? What makes someone a real friend to you? I kind of want to hear what a "friend" is to you before you read what I said... (I wrote up some thoughts and drew a picture here... but let me know what a friend is to you first!)  | ||
| Mwh Registered user Username: Mwh Post Number: 163 Registered: 4-2006  |
My best friend is Jesus I found out that it can be very onesided, like in my friendship with Jesus, he never lets me down, he never lies to me, he loves me perfectly. My fellow human beings, those of who are my friends share the same caracteristics but imperfectly. Oh, how hard it is to define friendship. | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 4588 Registered: 12-2003  |
I'm discovering that the basic requirement for a true friend is one's complete commitment to Jesus and the submission of one's life to the word of God. I have a dear friend whom God sent into my life about 24 years ago. Except for our Adventist background, we are quite different from each other in many ways. She went far from God for many yearsówhen I met her, she had just recently been born again, but she was still dealing with many of the "worldly" influences in her life. What bonded us back then was our mutual desire to know what was real and true. As the years have passed, we have both deepened and learned to trust Jesus at deeper and deeper levels. Our shared love for Jesus is the core around which our friendship revolves. She is a person of great wisdom and insight, and she holds me accountable and points out things hidden in my "blind spots". She is committed to honoiring the Lord Jesus, and she is committed to our friendship. This is not a friendship based on shared entertainmentóit's based on shared hearts. She is one of the most surprising and significnat gifts God has given me. He knew long before I did that I would need a friend I could talk to about spiritual issues and implications, and He provided her before either of us had a clue what hurdles we would face for which we needed Jesus. He is the heart of true friendship. (For example, the connection I feel to many of you here, even without meeting you face-to-face, illustrates this unity in the Spirit!) Colleen | ||
| 91steps Registered user Username: 91steps Post Number: 86 Registered: 8-2005  |
Besides my Lord and Saviour, my friends are mainly brothers of mine from the Military, guys that "I would go through a door with". These were men with whom I trusted my life to, and they with me, and if I have a serious problem I can pick up the phone and call and they would be by my side within hours. Now I have lost contact with allot of my buddies from the Military, but there are 4 with whom I stay in close contact with, and will remain tight with the rest of my life. | ||
| Freshstart Registered user Username: Freshstart Post Number: 5 Registered: 8-2006 |
I found out that most people use the word "friend" too loosly. I think that a true friend is a gift from God. If we have two or three good friends, we are truly blessed. I agree with Mhw--Jesus is my best friend too. I go to Him with everything. At one time I though that my sister-in-law was my friend and was shocked one day when I tried to unburden myself to her with something upsetting me (and I am definitelly NOT in habit of doing it)and she said point blank that she doesn't want to hear it. It was a great lesson and right away the Proverb 14:10 came to my mind: THE HEART KNOWS ITS OWN BITTERNESS, AND A STRANGER DOES NOT SHARE ITS JOY. I don't hold it against her, our relationship is not based on shared hearts, for she is an unbeliever. I found out that all relationships with unbelievers are very shallow relationships. As Colleen put so well "The heart of true friendship is Jesus." In His precious name, very blessed Freshstart | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 2801 Registered: 3-2004  |
My two best friends are not Christian. One is Jewish and the other used to be a Catholic. Yet, I can unburden myself on them and they on me anytime. When good things happen we rejoice for each other. They are the friends that will stand by my side no matter what I go through and I will stand by their side with what ever they go through. Diana | ||
| Susan_2 Registered user Username: Susan_2 Post Number: 2360 Registered: 11-2002 |
I love your picture. I read the poem and other writings. You are a very gifted artist and writer. I'll have to give more thought and contemplation to your question. | ||
| Agapetos Registered user Username: Agapetos Post Number: 326 Registered: 10-2002 |
Wow, thanks everyone! Colleen, it's so true! My wife and I have trouble "hanging out" with some "friends" here because they don't know Jesus. We get so used to a level of trust and intimacy that anything less seems very, very hollow, and we just don't know how to "do it" anymore. (But Lord, show us how to love them!) I like what 91steps said, "A friend is someone you would go through a door with." Wow, awesome! What an image! Jesus will "go through the door" with us! Sometimes I realize He asks me, "Will you go through a door with Me, Ramone?" | ||
| 91steps Registered user Username: 91steps Post Number: 90 Registered: 8-2005 |
Agapetos, "going throuh a door with" is a police term, means you trust the person totally with your life, and they with yours. Basically you and your partners know each other so well you do not have to communciate with each other, you know how each person will move and react. Although I still trust these men with my life, I trust Jesus more, because I KNOW He will not lead me astray. |
