Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” (Gen 1:26a)Įven more astonishing, we were created to be in relationship with the Lord. We were created in God’s image, and there are therefore some similarities between the way the Persons of the Trinity relate and the way we relate. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. The Lord himself lives in community-the eternal intra-Trinitarian “friendship.” They’re organized according to some themes you may find helpful. Below are some Bible verses that discuss the topic or are relevant to it. What does the Bible say about friendship? A great deal. Your mom wrote “books”, give her a coupon that says, “I’ll fold the clothes for 30 minutes while you read a book.Facebook Twitter Reddit Pinterest Email LinkedIn (For example, your brother wrote “movies”, plan a movie night and let him pick the movie. Use those words to think of 1-2 ways to serve the other person this week. Inside the body, write things they like or desire (clothes, food, kindness, movies, books, etc.) Then, have them switch with someone else and look at the words written inside. Matthew 22:37-40 (ESV)įamily Activity Idea: Give everyone in the family a piece of paper and have them draw the outline of their body on it. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. We are to love, stick close to, remain loyal, and serve others regardless of the relationship to ourselves.Īs parents leading our kids to have good friendships in school, on sports teams, at church, and even within our families, let’s point them to the strong command and lesson from Jesus and echoed by the apostles, Instead, we see the real lesson is not about the other person, it’s about us. Love does no wrong to a neighbor therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.īeing a good friend then is not about accumulating and keeping friends the way we collect Facebook friends today or gathered friendship pins when we were little. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.įor the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” And we see this repeated again and again in the apostles’ letters to the early churches. Jesus doesn’t talk too much about being a good friend but simply about serving others. John writes that Jesus’ command is to “love one another as I have loved you”. The disciple, Matthew writes that Jesus says the greatest commandment is to “love our neighbor as we love ourselves” (22:39). It’s not so much about friends, but more about “neighbors”. Proverbs 17:17 says that a real friend “loves at all times”. Proverbs 18:24 reminds us that a good friend “sticks closer than a brother”. But the real theme seen over and over in the Bible is less about gaining friends and wooing people and more about how we treat those other people-friends, neighbors and even enemies. We want everyone to be our friend, right? Well, maybe. It’s interesting because it seems like friendship would be the main goal of relationships. This multi-generational friendship is something not everyone gets to experience. What a gift to have in-laws serve each other so humbly!Īnd what about Paul and Timothy? Paul, the teacher longing to be with his padawan (so to speak!) above almost any other person. It’s another one you don’t hear of working out very often. The friendship of Ruth and Naomi, a daughter-in-law and mother-in-law is also a relationship to admire. I want my children to have this in their lives! What a beautiful example of a friendship! It’s not every day you hear about a friendship with such strong emotions and ties. Their friendship begins fast and remains fierce, “ the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” (1 Samuel 18:1 ESV)ĭavid and Jonathan made a covenant with each other and both of them protected and served one another all their lives. When I asked my son to name a famous set of friends in the Bible he quickly said, “David and Jonathan”. What Does the Bible Say About Friendship?
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