I Need Your Friendship

True friendship seems like such an easy thing to talk about but at the same time it is so difficult to develop. Too often, our friendship is with the world. James would tell us that making friendship with the world makes us enemies of God (James 4:4). I want to avoid anything that puts me at odds with God. There are other friendships that can hurt our lives. For instance, the Wiseman advises us not to make friends with an angry man or a furious man (Proverbs 22:24). We know that having evil companions will corrupt our morals or habits (1 Corinthians 15:33). Even knowing this, far too often our closest friends are people who do not know God, love God or live for God. Folks, if we are going to be all that we can be in service to God and our fellowman, we need to choose friends who will lift us up and support us in the Christian walk.

A friend is someone we are attached to with affection and esteem. We love them and we think highly of them. Of course the greatest friend we should have is Jesus. He has demonstrated that friendship by giving His life for us on the cross so that we might live eternally. More than that, He has shown His friendship by providing us with His word to guide us to those heavenly shores. He even supplied us with a support group of family and friends in the church which He built and purchased with His blood (Acts 20:28). He provided us with an avenue of friendship, family, love, connection, help and support. Even so, we often turn to the world for that connection which He intended for us to have in His body, His church, His family. Jesus is the greatest friend we can ever have and He has supplied us a way to find real friends and real connection in the church.

There are many examples and illustrations in the Bible that bring out the importance of true friendship and its blessings. Proverbs 18:24 declares, “A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Our spiritual bond in Christ is stronger than a familial connection (what a blessing it is to be both physical family and spiritual family). Proverbs 27:6 tells us, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” What a blessing it is to have friends who will be there through thick and thin and who have the courage and love to tell us the truth to save our souls and to help us live a blessed life in Christ. The last thing we need is a group of “friends” who will tell us everything is ok, when in truth, we are lost in sin. Let us be a people who love, esteem and support one another in all things and help each other go to heaven.

There are many wonderful things we discuss about friends and there are many beautiful passages teaching the value of friendship such as the love between Jesus and Lazarus (John 11) or between David and Jonathan who loved each other as their own soul (1 Samuel 18). However, I want you to understand that this isn’t just a biblical principle that is far removed by time, culture and/or geography. It is something that is very real and is needed right here and right now. We need each other.

Of course this is true personally for Robyn and I as we are new to town, to the region, to the congregation, and more. Brenna is new to the school and the activities of the area. We need your association and friendship. We need you to love and support us.

As a preacher, this is true because as friends we can study any passage or any subject without fear knowing you are on my side. If you have questions or comments, as friends, I know you will think of things in the best light and if there are any doubts you will come to me and talk about it. I could expound on this but you get the point: I need you to be my friend. As I have already stated in previous articles, I need you, I need your fellowship, and I need your friendship.

More than that, we all need the friendships that can only be found in the church. We need to support each other as we fight the Christian fight. There are so many negatives in this world. We are being bombarded on every side. The world is against us with things like evolution, abortion, filth spread through media, restriction of religion in public arenas and much more. The culture of sinful behavior and immorality is infiltrating even the church. We want it to stop, but since it continues, we need each other to help overcome these obstacles. We need each other to love, esteem and support. We need each other to talk to, to cry with, to encourage, to love and to strengthen. Folks, we need each other as friends. I need your friendship! — Denny Wilson