I don’t know about you, but I need friends. Not just surface level “how’s it going,” “let’s get together sometime” kind of friends. I mean the “I’m going to walk through life with you when it’s good and bad and in-between” kind of friends. The friends you know really want to hear the truth when they ask how you are doing, even if it’s in passing or over a text message. The friends who choose to be your friend even when you are not being a good friend in return. I am talking bestie, BFF, BAE, ride or die kind of friend. We all need at least one friend like that. Those friendships are definitely worth holding onto and celebrating.
I realize that finding true friends is not always easy, and you may currently be longing to find them. A prolonged, unexpected season of life or a recent big life change (i.e. new city, new job, new babies, new empty nest) both seem to magnify the need for committed friendships. These are all the more reason to celebrate the friendships we do have, whether they are few or many.
“A friend loves at all times” Proverbs 17:17a
The Bible has a lot to say when it comes to friendship, even highlighting several friendships throughout the Old and New Testaments: Jonathan and David, Paul and Timothy, Moses and Aaron, Ruth and Naomi. Some friendships are with peers, while others are found in mentor relationships or even within the family dynamic. Regardless of who forms them, they experience both trials and celebrations together. I would encourage you to look into these friendships more as we can learn much from them.
The Bible also gives us a beautiful picture of the ultimate friend: Jesus. (I know, I know. Classic Sunday School answer, but seriously.) We are given no greater example than that of Christ. The New Testament is stocked full of examples of Jesus as the perfect friend. We find a few examples in John 15. In John 15:13, Jesus tells us, “greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” In John 15:15, Christ calls the disciples His friends, and in verse 16 He tells them that He chose to have a relationship with each one of them.
We can look to Christ to find the characteristics of a true friend: loyal, trustworthy, vulnerable, dependable, honest. We can also look to Christ to be our true friend regardless of how many human friends we have and regardless of the season of life we are in. Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, making Him the perfect friend. We always know what kind of friend we are getting when we look to Christ.
Friendship is a gift we all need. So let’s absorb Scripture’s friendship teaching and examples that we can be more faithful friends to one another. And by all means, let’s celebrate the friend we have in Christ and the friendships we have been given!
Meet the Author!
Casey Yates is a wife, mom, daughter, sister, friend and speech-language pathologist. Casey loves all things Christmas, British historical fiction, walks, pie and coffee. Lots of coffee.
