"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his
life for his 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" (John 15:13-15)
As
our children return to school an important and vital discussion to have with
them concerns the friendships they will make.
The friends we have certainly influence us and it is even more so in the
lives of children.
"What is true friendship according
to the Bible?"
Answer: Jesus gave us the
definition of a true friend in our key passage for today. Of course, Jesus is the pure example of a
true friend, for He laid down His life for His "friends." What is more,
anyone may become His friend by trusting in Him as his personal savior, being
born again and receiving new life in Him.
But this is not the only passage that gives us direction and insight on
friends.
There
is an example of true friendship between David and Jonathan, who, in spite of
Jonathan’s father Saul's pursuit of David and attempts to kill him, stood by
his friend. You will find that story in 1 Samuel 18-20.
This friendship went far beyond being “buddies” as some would see it. The very soul of David was intertwined with
the soul of his dear friend, Jonathan.
The difficult circumstances surrounding their relationship actually
drove them closer as they stood in defense of each other. This is a truly inspirational friendship
which gives strength to Proverbs 17:17
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for
adversity."
Teaching
our children to use wisdom in the selection of their friends is one of the most
important acts we will do as parents. Proverbs 27:17 warns us that "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." When
our children get involved with the wrong kind of friends, their lives can be
devastated. As they return to a school
or start in a new school in the weeks to come, a priority of parenting and grand
parenting is to monitor who they are gravitating toward and what kind of
relationships they are seeking. It is
not wrong to ask questions about who they are spending their time with and the
values of their new acquaintances.
Many
young people believe that being popular is most important so they seek to
develop relationships with numbers of others teens while compromising their
personal values and convictions. "A man of many companions may come to ruin, but
there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." (Proverbs 18:24) Someone has said that if you can count your
true friends on the fingers of one hand, you are blessed. A friend is one whom
you can be yourself with and never fear that he or she will judge you. A friend
is someone that you can confide in with complete trust. A friend is someone you
respect and that respects you, not based upon worthiness but based upon a
likeness of mind. Children need to learn
the value of nurturing one good relationship that can last a lifetime.
Our Scripture to Claim is one we need to
remember and remind our children of for Christ clearly showed us friendship.
"For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps
for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own
love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us"
(Romans 5:7-8). Now, that is true friendship!
