A best friend, is not someone who has some mysterious and unfathomable special quality no one else has. Rather, He/ she is someone who ideally has become a high priority-relationship for you, and one you will invest in personally.
If your best friend is a lady, you will find yourself wanting to know her at even deeper levels, find a great well of love inside you for her that is growing, and become fiercely loyal to, and protective of, your time together, for it is vital to you both. That is the way it should work, and the way it works best.
Best friendships are open-ended about time; they do not come with an expiration date.
The Uniqueness About Best Friends
I think it is a friendship in which you hand over the key to the vault. Handing the key to the vault means you are saying, in essence, I entrust you with myself. Be safe for me, and also help me be a better person
That is, you let the person know you, at the deepest and most vulnerable level. You invite them to what is most important to you. For example, your dreams, vision for life, feelings, core values, strengths, hurts, secrets, sins, mistakes, past heartaches among others. These are not easy to let others in. But they are the essential to having best friends.
Best Friends; Our Family
In that sense, friendships and best friend for that matter are our “second family.” They continue our growth and development as we mature: emotionally, relationally, spiritually and professionally.
In Mark 3:31-35, Jesus referred to the second family in his own life experience. In other words, those who have deeply shared like values toward God are the family we need as adults. Best Friends become our family.
Is There Room For Only One Best Friend, Or More Than One?
Some people believe this is a one-person arrangement, that a best friend means a number 1 friend. However, to me, "Best" simply is an indicator that a few people are the deepest in your life and commitment. It is similar to best movies, restaurants and sports teams.
The reality is also that we need more than one person to provide the qualities in our relationships. Different friends have different strengths in the qualities. Variety helps. It is a good thing to be able to call several people “my best friends”, and it is a good goal to move toward.
Jesus saw (best) friends as central, in a way we often miss. He told his disciples that he was going to stop calling them his servants, and change things: “Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15).
He was making a distinction between two types of relationships. Servants and friends are very different. You give a directive to a servant. But you bring a friend into your confidence.
At lunch, you tell the waiter you’d like a refill on your coffee, and he does it. But you tell a best friend that you need that refill because you didn’t get a lot of sleep last night with a sick child at home.
You "make known" to your best friend(s) what goes on in your life.
In addition, at the end of his life, during his time of deep trouble and distress while he was praying at Gethsemane, Jesus asked his own three best friends, Peter, James and John, to keep watch with him (Mark 14:32-34).
Imagine God himself asking three friends to support him! It seems so dependent of Jesus, so “unspiritual.” The stereotype is that he should only be looking to the Father for support. But it is just a stereotype.
The reality is that Jesus modelled a need for both the divine and the human connections. Because when you have a few real best friends, and you know what to do with them, life can be significantly better, fuller and richer.
Your best friend is your best friend because you and she are great fits for each other; not because one of you is a better person than the rest. Above all, if you have God as you best friend, you are never alone.
Kind regards,
AMBASSADOR WILLIE,
+233 (0) 241 393 471
SOF MEMBER,
CENTRAL REGIONAL CAMPUS
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