Dear conqueror in Christ
I count an immense blessing to focus today on an important topic for your health namely friendship. It is “a relation of being allied with with a person whom one knows, likes and trusts.” The high value of friendship shines when one realizes how great a weapon it is against isolation. Friendship contributes to better physical and psychological well-being. God’s word urges the building of friendship and personal relationships when it says: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.” Eccl 4:9-10). If friendship is so important, we ought to learn how to integrate in our daily living.
True friendship implies loyalty, for “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.” (Proverbs 17:17) Loyalty is the glue that binds friends in the midst of adverse circumstances. Secondly friendship is maintained through kindness. The apostle Paul urges us to “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Eph. 4:32). Finally, remember that Jesus is our best source of reliable friendship. He clearly said: “I no longer call you servants… I have called you friends” (John 15:15). We can lean on Jesus as the unfailing friend. As the songwriter puts it “There is not a friend like Jesus in the trying scenes of life…If you’ll be a friend of Jesus, he will be a friend to you.” Accept Jesus’ friendship. He will be there you at all times.
Excelsior
Bishop Leon