Jesus' friendship – no greater love

Xanthe Galanis

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.

John 13: 13-17

We've learned from many different friends in the Bible over the last month and how they responded to different situations. Here we learn about friendship from Jesus himself and he doesn't mince his words when he speaks about it. Love each other. Die for them if you have to.

Friendship is about sacrifice. It's about the other person, not you. Jesus is the perfect example: to be a friend means we need to give and expect nothing in return. Sometimes it's not easy to do, especially if we care deeply about the person for which we are sacrificing. But Jesus didn't say his way would be easy, did he?

How closely do you model Jesus' example of friendship? What stands in your way of considering someone else's needs over your own? What can you do today to reach out to someone in your world? Your small gesture may mean the world to someone else.

Celebrate old friendships and generate new ones. Deepen your roots; renew and strengthen the long-term friendships you enjoy. As life progresses, those relationships change. Expand your networks, reach out to people you don’t know. There’s always someone nearby who needs what you can give.

Prayer: Dear Lord, I thank you for your friendship most of all, because in spite of who I am, you have never left my side. Thank you for the friends you've put in my life --new or old, near or distant. Amen.