No Greater Friend
John 15:12-15 This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.
Friendship. What exactly is it? Well, mostly, we don’t think too much about what that really means. Sure we have friends, we enjoy each other’s company. Sometimes they’re good friends. Sometimes, we have a falling out. That’s just life, right?
But as with everything else these days, our consumer mentality has deeply influenced our approach to friendship. Back when I was a lad, if mum ran out of sugar while she was baking on the weekend, she’d send me next door, cup in hand, to “borrow” some from the neighbour. People relied on each other back then. They needed each other. There weren’t any 24/7 convenience stores. Most families didn’t have a car, so there was this sense of community. This sense of interdependency.
But these days, everything’s convenient and most things are disposable. No one darns socks anymore. When they get a hole in the toe, you just throw them away and buy a new pair. And with this disposable consumer mindset that we’ve grown up in, we can become oh so casual about this whole friendship thing.
But have a listen to Jesus’ take on friendship:
This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. (John 15:12-15)
So, according to Jesus, just before He died for you and me on that Cross, no greater love has anyone than to lay down their life for a friend. In other words – and here’s the punch line if you will – friendship involves sacrifice.
How did Jesus love us? By dying for us.
This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you?
You and I are called to love each other by sacrificing our all for each other. You and I are Jesus’ friends when we lay down our lives, when we make the sacrifices needed, to live our lives the way He’s called us to live our lives.
Compare that, if you will, to the disposable, consumer mindset that we have a tendency to apply to our relationships these days. How easy is it, just to throw a relationship away, when the person doesn’t suit us.
But what Jesus is calling us into, are relationships based on sacrifice. Our sacrifice for Him and for others.
This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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