Can you think of friendships that you dearly value?
When both friends love, worship, and serve God, the threads of their relationship are more tightly woven. As we live out our faith in communion with another, we are strengthened and God is honored. God desires that we be united not only in him but also through him.
The apostle Paul offers great encouragement to fellow believers, including this section from one of his letters:
“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people… We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light” (Colossians 1:3-4,9b-12 NIV).
In light of this, let’s ask ourselves how we are doing:
- demonstrating thankfulness for other believers
- praying for their needs
- growing with them through God’s wisdom and understanding
- encouraging one another to live in a manner pleasing to the Lord
- joining together in good works to honor God
- enduring challenges with them while thanking God for his blessings.
We join the spiritual battle as we ask God to have his way in our friends’ lives, as we pray for their needs and spiritual growth. In addition, we can both encourage them and deepen the relationship through sharing our time, resources, and presence. Investing in our friends’ lives matters, because the God we serve is relational.
Jesus preached that we are to love each other as he has loved us, and we are his friends if we do what he commands (John 15: 12-14). Jesus is the perfect example of a friend. Sharing this friendship with other believers, “let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24-25 NIV).
Which friend of yours will you encourage in the Lord this week?
Read more about the unity of believers!