Who's Your “BFF”?

Texting is part of our everyday lives, and it is redesigning our vocabulary. We all know that "BFF" means "best friends forever," and we know what we value in a "BFF." I asked several people what they look for in a best friend and came up with the following list: respect, shared interests, loyalty, honesty, trustworthy, nonjudgmental, common values and worldview, mutual concern and caring, sense of humor, integrity not afraid to confront and always has your back.

While your list might look somewhat different, I'm sure that you would also include many of the same behaviors. We all want to have at least one person that we feel is a true friend. We want someone we can count on in good times and bad, and someone we can trust with those parts of ourselves that we don't easily share.

Starting in childhood, we are raised with numerous examples of good friends. Doubtless you can remember many cartoon friendships like: Mickey Mouse and Pluto, Lilo and Stitch, Batman and Robin, Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble and Rocky and Bullwinkle to name just a few. If we read books, we were introduced to famous friends such as the 2 hobbits, Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson or the Three Musketeers.

The subject of friendship has made some movies or series classics that we enjoy over and over again. Examples that come to mind are: Stand by Me, Band of Brothers, The Odd Couple, It's a Wonderful Life, The Wizard Of Oz and Gladiator. We all can relate to the feelings of friendship, the tension of estranged friendship, the sadness of lost friends, and the joy of reunion with friends.

While some of us may have enduring friendships from childhood, most of us have had a series of best friends in our lives. The idea of a "forever friend," is very appealing, but most of us would have to admit that nothing lasts forever, not even a best friend. Sometimes we have a falling out with a best friend. More commonly we drift apart due to life changes such as marriage and family, diverging interests, moves to new locations etc.
We often find as we get older that our friendships become more centered on shared activities rather than a shared whole life experience. This reality was well described in the movie "Stand by Me." The central character, who is the narrator, comments: "I never again found the quality of friendship that I had with those friends when I was 12."

I don't think we ever stop wanting a BFF, no matter how old we get. As one unknown writer put it: "A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you've forgotten the words." It would be wonderful to have such a friend by your side forever.

Do you know that God seeks friendship with you? Jesus told his disciples: "Greater love has no one than this, that a person will lay down their life for their friend. I call you my friends, for everything my Father has revealed to me I have told to you." (John 15:13, 15b) On his last night with them, Jesus reassured his followers that even though He was going away, He would not leave them alone. He would send them the Holy Spirit to stand by them and be their friend forever. God wants to be your BFF, and He died for you to prove it.

Come join us this Sunday morning at 9:00 AM or 11:00 AM. I will be talking about the Holy Spirit and the partnership we can have with Him, another topic in our current series on "What's the H in HRock Church?"