Devotionals for the Heart: How being a friend of God transforms us

Transformative Love of Friendship
A devotional by Essie Faye

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

—John 15:13 (KJV)

I’ve never known a friendless day and for that blessing, I am grateful.

I was conceived with a bestie and soulmate. I’m an identical twin and we are very close. More than 40 years later, we still talk multiple times a day. We even spend time together multiple times a week if we can. My sister and I have a special bond. It’s the kind of relationship where we understand each other, even without speaking words. We have a close connection that I cannot describe. It’s a family and friend relationship in a class of its own.

Despite our bond of lasting love as twins, nothing compares to the transformative love of friendship with Jesus Christ. Jesus who is sinless, eternal, and sovereign, stepped from His glory in Heaven into our sin-ridden planet (Earth). He wrapped Himself in flesh to walk the earth that He created (Galatians 4:4-7). He became human in order to redeem fallen humanity and reconcile us to God (John 3:16-17). When our sins demanded our death, Jesus sacrificed Himself and died in our place to appease the wrath of God (Romans 6:23).

The love story of the Gospel can be summarized in a few words: God sacrificed His Son to save the ungodly–even His enemies. What amazing love! Maybe some humans would die for those who love them, or even for those whom they love. But Christ died for those who love Him and his enemies who hated Him.

Jesus admonishes His disciples to love one another (John 15:9-17). Loving one another includes caring for one another and bearing each other’s burdens. It includes sacrificing for each other—this is giving up something for the sake of another. Jesus continues His teaching when He said in John 15:13 (NLT), “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” He expounds on the significance of the sacrifice that He would make. Laying down one’s life means sacrificing with all that you are—it is walking in humility and displaying love for your friends, even to your hurt. Then Jesus called His disciples His friends.

Here we see a transition as Jesus calls His disciples friends, whereas prior they called Him Master because they were servants. Christ’s friendship with these men transformed them from inexperienced students of the Bible to holders of God’s Word and later, teachers of His Word. Friendship with Jesus transformed these 12 men He chose to be His disciples and friends. It caused them to, though at first scattered by fear after Jesus was taken by Roman soldiers to start the journey to His death on the Cross, to stand boldly and proclaim the Good News after Christ’s resurrection. His friends had matured in their faith. Now they were ready to take on the mantle of ministry to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ across the world.

The love of Christ was evidenced by His words and His actions. He was a man of integrity. He always did what He said He would do. Jesus loved His disciples but because of this love, He corrected the disciples when needed (Proverbs 3:12) and taught them truth through grace. Jesus demonstrated the power of God through preaching, teaching, healing, and deliverance. Even today, more than 2,000 years later, his loving friendship still transforms.

Call to Action:

1. Think about it: Are you a friend of God?

2. God wants to be your friend. He is calling you gently with agape love. Will you answer His call?

3. Strive to be like Jesus Christ using friendship as a transformative tool to share His love for humankind around the world.

4. Let your friendship with Christ in your private life spill over into your public life because you never know who needs to experience it.

5. Remember: God’s friendship transforms us so that we can use our friendship with Him to transform others.

Let’s Pray:

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for your transformative friendship and love for humankind. You took a step toward us even when we were running far away from You. You pursued us passionately and captured us with Your love. Thank You for never giving up on us. Give us a passion to befriend the friendless and unfriendly people in this world. Help us to shine the light of Jesus Christ into the dark places of this world. May our friendship with You give hope to others, even while it transforms us. Thank You for hearing and answering our prayers. In the mighty and matchless name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

Song of Reflection #1: “Friend of God” by Israel Houghton. Listen to it here.

Song of Reflection #2: “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us” by Selah. Listen to it here.

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Author Bio:

Essie Faye is a woman of faith. 

She’s a bilingual author, educator, speaker, psalmist, and interpreter.

Essie is the author of the “Finding the Love You Deserve” series for women and teens. She is deeply committed to motivating minorities, women, and youth to heal themselves, love and accept themselves, and pursue God while chasing their dreams and carving out their life’s path.

Essie is a Chicago native.

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Connect with Essie:
Website: www.essiefaye.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_essie_faye/
Read Essie’s YouVersion Devotion Plan here: http://bible.us/r/Abn