I Need a Friend

   I can't do it alone. I can not say it any more clearer. I can not live my life on my own strength, my own will power, my own faith, my own performance, my own character. I need help. Thanks be to God that He gives friendships, and enables us to love one another, and build one another up, and lean on one another through trials.
  "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." ~Proverbs 17:17
   Fairly recently I had an altercation with a dear friend that I care about. Some words were exchanged, my pride and self-esteem was hurt, and the end result wasn't pleasant. At times in life like this I am often compelled to do whatever I can to make things right. I hate not being at peace, I hate not getting along, and I can't stand the heart ache that broken friendships can bring. One can see how powerful the words of a friend can be in Proverbs 18:21, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue."
   I believe that friendships are often taken too lightly in modern times. People have a weak sense of friendship and commitment to one another. If we look at the example of Jonathan and David from the Bible, we can understand that their friendship was a mighty one. The Bible tells us that their friendship was such a loving friendship that their love for one another passed the love of women. This image that we get of friendship, I believe, is how we ought to be in our friendships. Jesus said that the greatest commandment is, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." And Jesus said the second one is like it, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
   How amazing is that? That our greatest commandment as believers, as disciples of Jesus, is to love God with everything we got, and at the same time Jesus says the second greatest commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself, is like it. From these two passages, there is a direct correlation with loving God and loving people. And so truly we can rationally see that a broken relationship with God has a distinct connection with broken relationships with others.
  So if relationships with mere strangers is to love them as ourselves, how much more ought we to love those who are nearest to us?
   I want to know that you love me. I do not want to be confused or mislead about that. I need a friend in my life who is looking out for my best interests. I need a friend who loves me at all times. I need a friend that points me to Christ and builds me up in my faith and encourages me to persevere.
   "By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers." ~1 John 3:16
Do you love God? Prove it. Do you love me? Prove it. Friends love at all times.