Only God Can Make Friends

I am so thankful for the counsel of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes it is hard to make sense of your experiences, however if you are really open to truth, then the light of the Lord can eliminate the gray by dividing the light from the darkness to help you discern what is really going on. This morning, as I thought about the division I have experienced among congregations of people who have confessed Christ as Lord, especially the men which have called themselves my brother, I opened my heart to the Comforter to understand the root of it. Why is it that some of those who confess that they are my keepers fail to do the work of protecting and invigorating the spiritual life of Christ in me? To be clear, to be “someone’s keeper” in the biblical sense is to work to preserve their “spiritual” vitality. That means doing what you can to keep them true to Christ and His ways above all else. So, to be my brother’s keeper, my job is not to keep them loyal to me, but rather loyal to Christ.

Most people tend to surround themselves with people that are loyal to them. I have read motivational messages that counseled people to surround themselves with people who are aligned with their vision and their mission and their values. This mind set will definitely keep you on “your” path. That works for people who are doing life their way but is has no place in the body of Christ. As those who confess to be children of God the Father, born again through the obedient life of Christ, we deny ourselves to follow the way of Christ. The problem I see is that many have not properly applied the cross, so they aren’t doing the work of truly denying themselves. YAHWEH took the children of Israel through the wilderness of Sin to try them. It was a wilderness where no man could live.

⁶ Neither said they, Where is the Lord that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt? (Jeremiah 2:6)

This is noteworthy because the way of salvation in which the Lord takes us will go against the deep feelings and thoughts of our soul. Therefore, if we have not committed to truly surrendering ALL on the cross, we will find a reason to take detours. People who affirm those detours are often considered true friends, while those who contest are often dismissed as traitors or at a minimum considered wrong and disloyal. Time with those disagreeing friends become less of a priority than time with those who tend to be more agreeable, and before long the relationship dwindles to that of mere acquaintances. They might still be called friends but in reality, there are no longer enough exchanges nor familiarity to be truly intimate as required in true friendship.

The fear of the Lord compels me to do His will regardless of how I feel about it. The counsel I often give as a friend is based on the priority of GOD first, even before the friendship, because the Lord is the foundation of the friendship. The most important thing we must have in common is the desire to obey His commands. The Lord commands us to love Him with all our heart, mind, and strength, and to love one another as He has loved us. God’s love is the true north that compasses our lives.

⁴ Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; ⁵ does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; ⁶ does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; ⁷ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

If love is our highest priority, then we will find that our friendship endures and grows stronger as we pursue our calling down the narrow path to life. The narrow path of salvation was orchestrated to sanctify us and make us one through the love that is in Christ. Our lives must become a continuous act of worship unto YAHWEH, where everything we do is done in spirit and in truth. Simply put, we must abide in the love of GOD. Only the love of YAHWEH can make us friends and family that will endure.