Friendship

Everyday we are making new friends and now with facebook, more are being added each day! As we look back through the years, we thank God for many people we have met and worked with, people we call friends. Our lives have been enriched by friendship.

We have friends of all ages - older ones with their maturity and experience have contributed their wisdom to our lives. Children have been among our friends and they have enabled us to see the the world through their eyes. Youth helps us to look forward and see challenges ahead of us and prevents us from being backward looking. Every age adds its own contribution to our lives.

Friendship frees us to share our joys and sorrows, strengths and weaknesses. Friends help us to widen our horizons. True friends do not push us into a mould but enable us to be free and to grow in maturity.

We have friends of different races and cultures. We have friends all over the world. I'm glad I'm in The Salvation Army. Working as an officer has taken me and my wife to many countries and experience cross cultural interactions. It has been very enriching. No regrets loving and serving God in minstry.

Dale Carnegie wrote a book called " How to win friends and influence people." I believe it became the best seller at one time. It sold more than six million copies. Does this now show the desire of human beings to have friends.

Friendships are made, planned, cultivated, built and nurtured. Never take your friends for granted.

We live in a throw away society. We have paper plates we use them and then throw them away. We buy garments, we like them, then they go out of fashion and we give them away, hopefully to Red Shield Services or perhaps throw them away. We get rid of our equipment that are out of date. Nowadays, it seems cheaper to buy a new item than to repair it. I'm afraid some of us throw away friendships in the same way. A slight misunderstanding and we break up friendship. We part and look for another one. How tragic.

The word of God tells us about commitment and we need this in the area of friendship. Here are some examples - Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi, Jonathan and David, Paul and Timothy, the list can go on.

Thank God for friends and nowadays with easy communication, its wonderful to keep in touch using such means as e-mail and face book etc. And most important, we remember our friends in prayer.

There is a scene where spirits blend,
And friend holds fellowship with friend;
Though sundered far, by faith they meet
Around one common Mercy Seat.