Loving my friends the Jesus way
Today, my devotional is the featured blog on my friend and fellow Christian author Alexis Goring's Devotionals for the Heart "God is Love" blog.
By Jessica Brodie
When I was a girl, I thought being a good friend meant being really nice or complimentary to someone, or making them feel better about themselves. That meant if my friend wore a color shirt that looked awful on her, but I knew she’d plunked down a lot of money for it, I’d insist she looked great. Or if she said something rotten to her boyfriend, I’d be supportive and tell her she was in the right, even if I thought she’d been out of line.
As the years passed and my faith strengthened, I started thinking about the Golden Rule when it came to my friendships—that is, heeding Jesus’s command in Matthew 7:12 (NIV) to “do to others what you would have them do to you.” I wouldn’t want my friend telling me a shirt looked great on me if it didn’t, so I started responding with much more honesty, the sort of thing I’d want to hear, such as, “You are gorgeous, but that color isn’t your best. Return it for the red one.” Or, in the case of the boyfriend, I might tell her she was right but that her words were harsh, and advise her to apologize.
But going so far as to offer real, bitter-truth honesty? That was far too frightening. I’d pick the safe path rather than risk a fight… and possibly losing our friendship.
READ THE REST OF THE BLOG, HERE!
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