Romans 5 - Friendship

Every leader needs a friend, nay, friends! We can’t lead, serve, and grow well in Christ without good friends. Jesus always leads by example. While on earth, He showed us the importance of building friendships.

        I’m thankful for my friends. Each friend is unique. Some are friends for life. Others for a season. What a blessing to have a genuine friend.

        My friendship with my dad is different from my friendship with my sons. Like family and marriage, God designed friendship to be sacred - fellowship blessed by God’s presence. It’s how God develops our character, as iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17).

        I’m particularly thankful for my friendship with my wife; our marriage and friendship have grown stronger over the years. I’ve been amazed over the years at how easily my wife makes friends. She is a great friend because she is sincere, funny, creative, and selfless.

        You feel loved and accepted around a good friend. Good friends bring out the best in you. They give you the freedom to laugh and the grace to laugh at yourself. Good friends buy each other good cigars - not the cheap ones I buy for myself!

        One thing that is true about all my friends is this: I like them. I genuinely like them. They are quirky, unique, gifted in many ways, and flawed. Friends care about each other with Christian love.

        Another thing friends do is think about each other. Those thoughts translate into deeds. I think about my friends daily and pray for them, their wives, and their families. God’s love for us is beyond measure. He likes us, cares for us, thinks about us, and advocates for us. God puts thought into deeds and Providentially provides for us. He sent Jesus Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

        We all need friends. May we be the friend to others that we so desperately want for ourselves?

As Mike says to Eleven in the Stranger Things Netflix series,’ “Friends don’t lie.” There is truth to that. Friends must be genuine. It’s hard. But necessary. Friends work hard to help their friends. They love, own up to mistakes, and selflessly care for each other - and in the case of our Lord and Savior, he laid down His life for us. May we be friends like that!

Through Jesus, we are friends with God (5:11). Never take friendship for granted. Friendships must be maintained (Proverbs 18:19). Let us be the friends God wants us to be today. And, like Abraham, may we be humble servants to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies while simultaneously thinking of Him and trusting Him as our best friend.

God offers this gift of righteousness before God through faith in Jesus Christ to everyone (5:18). Many will be made righteous when they accept God’s blessing through the death of his Son (5:19).

God’s law was given so that everyone could see how sinful we were before God. Paul moves in this section from the primary point of the need to be in the right standing with God and righteousness to living in a relationship with God and self-control. As friends of God, we must understand how to act before Him, as He is our Judge and our most prominent Advocate. And, our friend.

We live today in a place of undeserved privilege as we confidently and joyfully look forward to eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

We can rejoice today because God loves us. Completely. He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with love. God is the giver of all good gifts. He gives us good friends!

And we shall not despair when we run into problems and trials. They will develop our endurance. We know this to be true. Endurance develops our strength of character. And our character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.  

We rejoice in our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who has made us friends of God.

You are a friend of God. Let us live like it today.

        Lord God, please help us to be men and women of integrity today. Help us to be the best of friends with each other. May we be worthy of being called friends of God.

Amen.