Christian Living
Larry Lilly's Letter Monday October 23, 2006
The value of friends is stated succinctly in a statement I read just this past Saturday:
"My friends have made the story of my life. In a thousand ways they have turned my limitations into beautiful privileges, and enabled me to walk serene and happy in the shadow cast by my deprivation."
Today's quote could fit well into the life of any person who has accomplished anything in life. What would a mother be without friends to help her along the way, especially when she is young with arms full of children? Or when she is aged and the children are gone and far too busy for her? The same is true in most of life's many situations. To be a friend to others is one of the highest callings and yet we pay little or no attention to this noble calling of the Lord, and spend too much time fretting over the lack or quality of our friends. To be a quality friend is a gigantic life accomplishment.
My own life is richer by far because of friends who had a good word of encouragement, others have literally stood in my way when I was bound and determined to walk along an unwise path and still others who literally fed me when life had turned upside down. Most of us if we were honest would have to say the same thing.
What have I learned? I have been learning that in order to pay life back, I must learn the secret of being a friend. I do not know the full secret of having true friends, but the path to being a good friend is well marked in the book of wisdom, God's word.
Jesus Christ is the example of true friendship. When all of His friends forsook Him and fled at Calvary, He never mentioned it. A true friend understands the fear and fickleness of His friends and loves them anyhow! I learn from Jesus that I am to be a better friend to my friends than I can expect my friends to be to me. And this is a tough lesson to pass from the intellect to the emotions! Yet with Christ all things are possible, if we want them to be.
One of the weapons that Christ used in this display of friendship that transcends our limited friendship ability is the principle of focusing on the needs of others and on the business at hand. Calvary was the business at hand and His friends desperately needed further enlightenment as to just what was happening and they also needed courage for they were fearful of being seized and nailed to a cross along with Him. If we will be the kind of friend we need to be, we have to learn to forgive our friends for their fears.
Back to the quote of the day.
The quote of the day, is from Helen Keller. Her most well known friend was Anne Sullivan, who certainly would not give up on Helen.
"My friends have made the story of my life. In a thousand ways they have turned my limitations into beautiful privileges, and enabled me to walk serene and happy in the shadow cast by my deprivation."
Larry Lilly Copyright © 2006 Use with credit
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