In my relatively short lifetime, I've learned many things about friends. Some good, some bad. I've had enough friends to realize that they're not all going to always be around. They will enter and exit your life, some with a big to-do about it and others with not so much as a hello or a goodbye. But I've come to the conclusion that real friends are the people who love us not because they have to, but because they want to.
"People come, people go - they'll drift in and out of your life, almost like characters in a favorite book. When you finally close the cover, the characters have told thier story and you start up again with another book, complete with new characters and adventures. Then you find yourself focusing on the new ones, not the ones from the past."
- Nicholas Sparks (The Rescue)
Nicholas Sparks creates a pretty accurate analogy in this quote. I know this from personal experience, and I think in a way most of us do.
So why am I babbling on about friends? No, it isn't because I've had a fight with one of mine, or because I've lost one. It's because I have begun to realize how wonderful the true friends really are, and why they are that way.
Tomorrow, one of my best friends tries out for the football team at the university he attends. He has a real passion for football and sports. He works out and trains nearly every day. He has the kind of heart and spirit that any coach would be proud to have in a player. Basically, this is my friend's dream. This is what he's worked for ever since he transfered to his school last year.
So why am I so focused on it? Well, most college football teams normally practice all the time, year-round, on the weekends, during the off-season...you see where I'm going with this. Now, add in the fact that this isn't just some small college he wants to play for, but an ACC school. If my friend makes this team tomorrow, he won't be coming home very often, and my chances of seeing him will go from slim to even slimmer.
Long story short, I am selfish.
There's no other way to explain it but that. And who can blame me, really? I don't want to have to give up the time I could have with my friend for something that, in the long run, doesn't really matter.
But yesterday, seeing him for the first time in a month, and seeing the joy and excitement and nerves that tomorrow is bringing him...it makes me want only the best for him. And that's the point I'm getting at.
Real friends want what's best for their friends.
I call myself a "real friend."
Therefore, I need to want what's best for my friends.
My friend told me yesterday that as long as I'm happy, he's happy. In my eyes, that is the epitome of a true friend.
Tonight I attempted to encourage him with an awesome translation of one of the most popular pieces of scripture in the Bible:
"Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through the One who makes me who I am."
- Philippians 4:13 (MSG)
Now if that doesn't calm his nerves and give him strength, I don't know what will! I'm striving to support him through prayer and encouragement, as well as through my words and actions.
I've heard it said that "friends pick us up when we fall down, and if they can't pick us up, they sit down and listen for a while." I want to be the kind of friend who is there through thick and thin, and who selflessly supports the ones I love in all that they do.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
How to Fall In Love...
Hey guys! It's a new year, which means new blog posts! Shocking, right? Actually, I am going to try just a little bit harder to post more often this year, seeing as how my last post is from around three months ago.
In the last week or so I've decided to read the book of Romans, primarily because one of the main goals in my faith walk this year has been to literally fall in love with Jesus Christ. The reason behind this goal (I guess that's the simplest way of putting it) is that I've realized that in order to fully commit my heart to one other individual (i.e. the man I'm going to marry), I must first be in love with my Creator. So, why Romans? Well, Romans is basically God's love letter (written through Paul) to the world... So, why not Romans?!
As I was reading about God's great love for us and everything that he strives to invest into a relationship with us, a couple of verses of scripture stuck out to me...
"All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn't, and doesn't, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it's sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that's the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life - a life that goes on and on and on, world without end."
- Romans 5:20 & 21 (MSG)
These verses are saying, more or less, that no matter how great our sin is, it doesn't have a chance against grace because God's grace will always be greater than our sin. Now that doesn't mean that because grace is around each and every one of our sins are automatically pardoned. But it does mean that, as long as we ask for God's forgiveness, the "aggressive forgiveness" we know as grace will cover all of our sins. In other words, we have a relationship with him, we have grace. Relationship = grace.
It's just like my earthly daddy would always tell me when I was younger and had done something wrong - because I love you, I'm going to give you grace. Instead of a harsh punishment for my wrongdoings, I would recieve very little, if any, punishment at all, mainly because the relationship I had with my dad caused him to not want to punish me. Because of our relationship - because of our great love - I recieved grace.
It's the same way with our relationship with Christ, in that through that strong relationship love and grace can be attained. A relationship not only brings grace, but it also brings a deep love, making it a key part of that falling in love I so long to do. So what do grace greater than sin, a relentless love and a strong relationship all have in common? They help us to fall more in love with the Maker of our hearts.
In the last week or so I've decided to read the book of Romans, primarily because one of the main goals in my faith walk this year has been to literally fall in love with Jesus Christ. The reason behind this goal (I guess that's the simplest way of putting it) is that I've realized that in order to fully commit my heart to one other individual (i.e. the man I'm going to marry), I must first be in love with my Creator. So, why Romans? Well, Romans is basically God's love letter (written through Paul) to the world... So, why not Romans?!
As I was reading about God's great love for us and everything that he strives to invest into a relationship with us, a couple of verses of scripture stuck out to me...
"All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn't, and doesn't, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it's sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that's the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life - a life that goes on and on and on, world without end."
- Romans 5:20 & 21 (MSG)
These verses are saying, more or less, that no matter how great our sin is, it doesn't have a chance against grace because God's grace will always be greater than our sin. Now that doesn't mean that because grace is around each and every one of our sins are automatically pardoned. But it does mean that, as long as we ask for God's forgiveness, the "aggressive forgiveness" we know as grace will cover all of our sins. In other words, we have a relationship with him, we have grace. Relationship = grace.
It's just like my earthly daddy would always tell me when I was younger and had done something wrong - because I love you, I'm going to give you grace. Instead of a harsh punishment for my wrongdoings, I would recieve very little, if any, punishment at all, mainly because the relationship I had with my dad caused him to not want to punish me. Because of our relationship - because of our great love - I recieved grace.
It's the same way with our relationship with Christ, in that through that strong relationship love and grace can be attained. A relationship not only brings grace, but it also brings a deep love, making it a key part of that falling in love I so long to do. So what do grace greater than sin, a relentless love and a strong relationship all have in common? They help us to fall more in love with the Maker of our hearts.
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