Thoughts

A teaching by Allison Kiss at Life Night
August 19, 2012

 

True physical friends are important, and crucial to our lives. We know the good things that friends can do for us. If they didn’t have a purpose in our lives, God wouldn’t have created them for us.

But, Physical, earthly friends are not the only ones who can be that for us. Jesus can be our best friend too! He has all of the qualities of the perfect best friend.

St. Teresa of Avila said it well, “All blessings come to us through our Lord. He will teach us for in beholding his life we find He is the best example. What more do we desire from such a good friend at our side? Unlike our friends in the world, He will never abandon us when we are troubled or distresses. Blessed is the one who truly loves Him and always keeps Him near.”

He does give us all our blessings, and He does possess all of those good friend qualities. He isn’t going to abandon us. He is there and even when we are not thinking of Him. And even when we are not thinking of Him, He is thinking of us. Jesus doesn’t want to lead you to sin, He wants to lead you to heaven. He is going to hold you to high standards, like a good friend would, because He wants you to become a disciple of Christ, and become a saint, to be with Him in heaven. If you listen to Him through prayer, adoration, and other people, you will hear His message, and hear His opinions of what He wants you to do with your life. Just like a close friend would offer his/her opinions to you.

“Friends are like stars, you can’t always see them, but you always know they are there”

This works well for talking about Jesus because we can’t see Him, but we still have faith in Him. He is with us no matter what. When we are lonely, and we may not have any physical friends beside us, He is going to be by your side. He isn’t ever going to leave you alone. He never has, and He never will. That is a good friend.

Even better than a friend here on earth, Jesus is there to talk whenever you need Him through prayer. You can pray to Him about anything and tell Him about your struggles and He can take it! He won’t be overwhelmed by our problems, and He isn’t going to judge you by anything you say. If anything, He will forgive you and be happy you’re taking time to talk to Him. When you talk to Him through prayer, you don’t have to be traditional all the time either. You can address Him like you would a best friend. I have a friend who starts her prayers with “Hey God!”, and then you can give Him petitions, or thoughts, or questions, and He will answer in His own timing. He knows you better than anyone else. He knows all your thoughts and actions. So, you shouldn’t be afraid to talk to Him about anything, because He already knows your struggles, your pain, and He knows His plan for you.

He is going to be forgiving, even when you’re mad at Him, He is still going to stick with you and be your best friend. You may not always want to be His friend, but He will always be a friend to you. And we are so blessed to have Him as a friend, because He will always love us, and never forsake us. He was even willing to die for each and every one of us. Being willing to die for someone so that they can have a better life. That right there is the ultimate true meaning of friendship.

“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you, cleanse your hands you sinners, and purify your hearts you double-minded” .
James 4:8

If you accept the friendship with Jesus and you work on it, it will be fruitful. All relationships take work. And relationships are not just one sided either. It takes two people working hard, to form a wonderful friendship. This includes a friendship with Jesus. It is going to be hard, and take a lot of time and effort to get a good relationship with Jesus, but it will be worth it. He died for us so that we could have a better life. So we should be willing to stand by Him even until death. Martyrs are such amazing people. For anyone who doesn’t know what a martyr is, it is someone who has laid down their life for the will of God. They stood by Jesus until they had to sacrifice themselves. They died for Him, to defend Him. That is such a hard thing that would take so much courage to do.

We should really look up to those saints who lay down their life for the Lord, because they are amazing examples of being a best friend to Jesus. We should strive as young adults, to stand up for our faith, and our beliefs, and do everything we can to praise Him because He is the best thing in our lives. We may not have to stand up for our faith until death, or do anything that severe, but we should still do every little thing we can in order to serve Him completely, and be a friend to Him.

Jesus is in each and every one of our lives every single day, we just have to acknowledge Him and work to grow closer to Him and get to know Him because that is what Jesus wants. He wants For us to grow closer to Him each and every day and be his Best friend, and talk to Him. and we are so blessed to have Him as a friend. He wants to be our friend, and be by our side. But, we are so unworthy to be a friend us Jesus. We are such imperfect sinners, and He is perfect, yet He still thirsts for our friendship.

Tonight’s Life Night is titled BFFL, or Best Friends for Life. But, maybe it should’ve been titled BFFEL, because good friends are going to stick with you forever. That’s pretty great that you will have someone to stick by your side until death. But, what’s even more amazing is that we will have Jesus as a Best Friend for Eternal Life. Forever. No matter what. In this life, and when we get to heaven, we are guaranteed a friendship with Him.

I have so much further to go in my relationship with Jesus, and I will always be growing, but coming to truly know Jesus as a friend like I do now is the most beautiful wonderful thing I have ever experienced in my life. He brings so many blessings and so much joy to my life, it’s incredible and hard to put into words, but it’s so amazing. I encourage everyone of you to try to grow in your spiritual life as best you can, because you just have to experience it yourself to understand how amazing a friendship with Jesus is. There is nothing better than a relationship with Him. Work hard for a relationship with Him, and you will have Him with you for eternal life.

I want to leave you with another bible verse to think about.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.
John 15:12-15