John 15:11 “. . . that your joy may be complete.”
One aspiration that everyone shares is the desire for joy or happiness. Jesus laid the foundations for joy in life--complete joy--when he taught his disciples that out of his love for them came friendship and meaningful relationship. For everyone, Christian or not, the importance of good relationships as experienced in true friendship is essential to happiness.
One of the writers whose thinking has continued to influence me for more than forty-five years is Martin Buber. He wrote this memorable statement, “All real living is meeting.” (I and Thou, 2nd Edition, Scribner, 1958, p. 11) Life is made up of relationships. It seems so simple, but understanding this principle will do much to bring joy into one’s life.
Marriage, the most intimate of human relationships, blesses husband and wife most when the two are best of friends as well as lovers. Friendship in the family enriches the relationship between parent and child as the young person moves away from dependence and the need for guidance into a new standing in which the two family members can become friends. What a blessing to have neighbors who are friends or to go to work where we labor alongside people who are our friends. Devotion to the making of friends will bless us with joy in life.
In John 15: 15 Jesus called his disciples his friends. To be a friend of Jesus is to be a friend of God, and to be a friend of God is have the one relationship that transcends time and all the limitations of human sin. Friendship with God brings the joy that is complete. (v. 11)
***
What can you do? In this You Tube Video which is an interview with the now deceased artist Paul Smith, the question, “what can you do,” becomes a near mandate to find a way to do something, to do something with love and with diligence. Smith’s faith inspired him, and the witness he gave in this video has a powerful impact. Don’t miss it.
No comments:
Post a Comment