True Friendship

No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  John 15:13

The mystery began as soon as a very puzzled mother realized her 7 year old son had returned home from school without his underwear.  After she had exhausted him with her standard line of questioning, she sighed, realizing she was no closer to unraveling the mystery.  In her wisdom, she decided to do what all good mothers do…wait him out…he was bound to crack sooner or later!

A few days after the unfortunate underwear incident, the mom was unpacking her sons Spiderman backpack and discovered a small brown paper lunch bag with a message scrawled across the outside in red marker.  The note, written by the mother of her son’s best friend explained the whole situation in humorous detail.  It seemed that the measure of “coolness” among that particular group of boys was directly related to the designs on their little underwear.  Her son had been wearing a pair of his new sports equipment underwear on the day of the disappearance.  They were covered with pictures of little hockey pucks, baseballs, footballs, tennis rackets and such.  Apparently they were the COOLEST one’s ever.  The boy’s best friend studied them carefully because he wanted some just like it for his upcoming birthday. After a brief discussion about the inability of modern day mothers to shop properly, he decided to do what any great buddy would do; hand them over so the buddies mother could stick them in her purse, take them to Wal-Mart and whip them out when she arrived in the underwear section enabling her to purchase exactly the right underwear.  Now that’s true friendship!

Friendship is one of the most thoughtful gifts God gives us.  As I look back at the troubled or difficult times in my life, it’s usually the memory of friends who appeared and slathered me with love, support and laughter that I remember instead of the event itself.  God promised life would be difficult at times but in His amazing love, he gave us great friends to help us along.  The little boy who gave up his underwear was willing to forgo his personal comfort, endure his mother’s pelting questions and possibly deal with a bit of embarrassment all for his friend.  Not exactly “laying down your life” but it was that tiny act of “dying to self” that contains the lesson.

Make no mistake, I’m not encouraging anyone to give up any part of their wardrobe today, but I am suggesting we take a cue from a 7 year old boy and make a sacrifice for a friend.   If you’re looking for a way to love and honor God, why not start by loving and honoring the friends He’s blessed you with.  A little act of “dying to self”, like passing up sweets, less screen time or doing the most dreaded job on the task list without complaint can be done out of love and offered up the Father in the name of a friend.  Now that is a powerful way to ask God’s blessing on a friend; that is powerful love!

A seed to plant: Make a list of three friends and three simple acts of self-sacrifice you can do for the intentions and needs of those friends.  Lift them up in prayer each time the sacrifice gets difficult and the blessings will magnify.  Don’t forget to share the story of blessings that will follow your acts of “dying to self” for a friend.

Blessings on your day!