When I think about the people in my life I call friend my heart wells up with joy and love. I think of all the laughs we shared together and the hugs of comfort we have exchanged. There is so much beauty in friendship. There is love, pain, joy, triumph, and celebrations. I start to think of how far I am willing to go for a friend, or what I am willing to forgive. I can look back in my life and look at people that at one time I called friend. So many of my friendships ended with a bad taste or a small conflict that I allowed to get too big to fix. I let distance get in between me and some of my very best friends and allowed myself to fade completely out of the lives of people I loved. I allowed differences of opinions to become reasons for ending friendships. How did I allow people I shared life with to be completely removed from my life? I truly believed at the time that it was ok that these friendships ended. Do you remember when you were younger, writing BFF (Best Friends Forever) to your childhood best friends? Friendship is supposed to last through the hard things. Its supposed to last through the differences and through the distances.
As I was reading in Matthew the other day I got to the part where Judas is about to betray Jesus…
“And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings Rabbi!” And he kissed him. Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” -Matthew 26:49-50
How huge is that? Judas is literally betraying him and Jesus returns his betrayal by calling him friend. I need to be reminded daily that even when I mess up Jesus sees me and calls me his friend. Knowing how I feel about the friends in my life and how Jesus’ love for us is even more complete, I know that when he calls us friend it should carry a lot of weight! Jesus’ friendship last through the hard things. It last through the differences. It lasts through the distance you create between the two of you. Jesus is our BFF and his friendship lasts through everything even when we don’t see him or feel him. He’s the one calling us friend even as we yell at him for the pain we are going through in our lives. His friendship doesn’t end because we are mad, or we don’t agree with what he is doing. His friendship is constant.
His love never ends!
-Jenna!
