I
ended with this verse in part three, and now I’m going to begin part four with
it. John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s
life for his friends.” This is literal and figurative. Laying down your life
for someone doesn’t exactly mean that you die for them (although in some rare
cases, this can happen). What it does
mean is that you lay down what you want for someone else (hint: your
friend(s)). It means not fighting for your way, but giving up what you want or
even your comfort for a friend (or anybody for that matter). The literal sense
of this verse is about what Jesus did for us.
The music group Phillips, Craig, and
Dean did a song a few years ago called “Friend of God”, which is an accurate
assessment of our situation. If we were not friends of God, why would he give
his life for us? John 15 continues on to say, “You are My friends if you do
whatever I command you.” God has a far greater love than we could ever hope to
receive from people on earth, who are fallen. God loved us so that we could
learn how to love one another. His love is (or should be) the model that we go
off of when trying to love someone (especially if that someone is difficult to
love).
If you think that you are doing well
at loving people, or if you are having trouble loving people, or even if you
are somewhere in between, open your Bible to 1 Corinthians 13, that’s right,
it’s the “love chapter”. I figured that if we’re talking about friendship and
love, what better place to look? Just look at the list of things that we need
to have in order to perfectly love people: Patience, Kindness, Contentedness,
Humility, Purity, and love lasts forever. Hmmm, this list sounds like another
one that is listed in scripture (hint: love, joy, peace, etc.). Look at Galatians
5:22-23, which says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control..."
So I think if we combine both of
these lists, they create an image of the best friend… Jesus. Jesus is the only
one who can meet all of the requirements to being a perfect friend. We will not
be able to do it until we have glorified minds and bodies in heaven. This also
means that we always have a goal to
strive for in our relationships, which is perfection. Although, in our current
state, perfection is impossible, we don’t have to let it discourage us.
Instead, we should let it fill us with a renewed sense of vigor to keep
striving to be the perfect friend, spouse, parent, or child.
Colossians 3 describes love as the “perfect
bind”, and it is also the strongest
bind; a bind that holds relationships together. There is no greater love that
you can offer than to lay down your life for your friends. There is only one
who can love us perfectly, and that is God. His love toward us is meant to be
the example that we follow when we love (or try to love) others. Also, we
cannot learn to truly love anyone unless we love God. Through four of the five
parts, we have almost completed the full outline of what it means to be a good
friend, and how we can learn more about being a good friend, which is by
mimicking God’s love toward us.
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