Few things on earth are more beautiful to witness than one brother restoring friendship with another.
It is an act that reflects the most beautiful of divine acts, that of Jesus restoring friendship with us: “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
Trying to get our minds around the thought that our Eternal God would go to such extreme lengths to bring us back into sweet fellowship with Himself is almost impossible.
Everything about this relationship is designed to keep us close to Jesus. “You are My friends,” he says, “if you do what I command you” (John 15:14). His commands are vital. They are centred in the love that binds us to our God, and in turn, to our fellow man.
The apostle John doesn’t hold back on those who think that they can be friends with God, but enemies with man. He writes,
“If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20).
Falling out with others might be inevitable, but it must never be permanent. Jesus offers a quick and practical way to restore friendships, and to make them even tighter and more dynamic than before:
“Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering” (Matthew 5:23-24).
There is no greater friend than Jesus. His is a friendship worth sharing.
John Staiger
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