The Faithful Love of a Friend

 It would be hard for me to overstate the importance of having friends. God designed us to have close relationships with Him and with other people. It is part of being made in the image of God. God is love, and love is expressed in relationships. It is not just a feeling. It is a choice and an action. We need God's love, and we need the love of friends to really have life the way God designed.

Saul's son, Jonathan became a friend to David from the very first time they met. He remained faithful to that friendship until the end of his life. He helped David keep from being killed by Saul, and he asked for David to treat him with faithful love as long as he was alive. (I Samuel 20:14,15) Then, he added that if he died, he asked David to treat his family with faithful love after David had destroyed all of his enemies. That is the kind of love we all need to show to our friends.

There are good friends, and there are bad friends, Some friends are bad because they just want us to help them, but they never put forth any effort to help us. Others are bad friends because they are "fair weather" friends. They are only friendly to us when things are going well, and it is easy for them to be our friend. The good friends are the ones who stick closer than a brother no matter what happens.  That is faithful love that never gives up and is always there for us.

That is the kind of friends we need and the kind of friend we need to be for others. Friendship should never die. It should last until we die or our friends die. Then, after they are gone, we should continue to be there to love their family with the same faithful love we gave their relative. Love never dies, and it never fails, if it is the steadfast, faithful love of the Lord. I pray that we will all be that kind of friend and that we will have those kinds of friends all of our lives here on this earth.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read  Samuel 21-23.