WHO IS YOUR FRIEND?
If I were to ask several people this question, I am sure to get several responses of what a friend is. Who is a true friend? This is another relative question.
A famous Kenyan musician by the name “Nyota Ndogo” sang that there are people and shoes in this world. This is a direct translation from the Swahili words “kuna watu na viatu duniani”.
You know whom a true friend is when you are going through tough times in your life. They always stand by you, encouraging you and are empathetic towards you.
Back in the days, when we were young in primary school someone was your friend because he or she carries niceties for break so this ensured the two of you get equal shares. In high school, there are the social classes. What is your background? These leads to the formation of cliques that come to an end just when the national exams are around the corner. The reality checks in and one is forced to realize that they entered the school gate as an individual and will leave exactly the same way.
True friends will not leave you in bad times. They are always there for you in good times as well as in bad ones.
Most friends are very insincere in that they befriend you in order to get something from you. Once they do that, they forget you ever existed in their lives. They sometimes do that just to impress others.
Contrasts that with the sincere love that Jesus showed us. He said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for His friends” (John 11:13). Then He demonstrated self-sacrificing love for us by dying in the cross to forgive our sins. Personally, I would not lay down my life for anyone. This is I being sincere.
When we trust Jesus as our savior, and learn to obey Him, we experience a deeper friendship that gives reality and sincerity to the friendliness we show to others.
My prayer today is that the good Lord will help us to avoid shallow friendliness that uses others to get what we want. The Lord can indeed teach us to radiate the warmth of genuine Christ-like friendliness to everyone we meet.
True friendship can be like a magnet that draws people to Christ.
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