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The Blessings Of Old Friends
“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Old friends offer us the freedom of conduct without judgment. You can't freely be yourself before everybody. You can only do that with friends.
In the presence of our friends, we feel safe and protected to act naturally as humans. We don't hide our emotions from our real friends, because we know they won't condemn or misjudge us.
Jesus Christ could freely weep at the funeral of Lazarus because His friends were present. He knew even if He weeps beyond Himself, His disciples (friends) will keep Him in check for Him not to mess up.
Openness is a rare gift that only true friends offer. Renee Olstead said, “The biggest ingredient in a best friend is someone whose actions you respect and who you can truly be yourself around."
"So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God..." (Hebrews 4:16, NLT). Do you have a friend you can freely talk to and still have your words respected?
Charles Lamb remarks, “It is the privilege of friendship to talk nonsense, and to have her nonsense respected." Offer this privileged friendship to others. Don't criticize, and condemn people.
Accept your friends for their humanness just as God accepts you for who you are. If no one understands your nonsense, the universe is open, shout it out to God and He will listen and give you hope again.
© JOHN ARTHUR
Old friends offer us the freedom of conduct without judgment. You can't freely be yourself before everybody. You can only do that with friends.
In the presence of our friends, we feel safe and protected to act naturally as humans. We don't hide our emotions from our real friends, because we know they won't condemn or misjudge us.
Jesus Christ could freely weep at the funeral of Lazarus because His friends were present. He knew even if He weeps beyond Himself, His disciples (friends) will keep Him in check for Him not to mess up.
Openness is a rare gift that only true friends offer. Renee Olstead said, “The biggest ingredient in a best friend is someone whose actions you respect and who you can truly be yourself around."
"So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God..." (Hebrews 4:16, NLT). Do you have a friend you can freely talk to and still have your words respected?
Charles Lamb remarks, “It is the privilege of friendship to talk nonsense, and to have her nonsense respected." Offer this privileged friendship to others. Don't criticize, and condemn people.
Accept your friends for their humanness just as God accepts you for who you are. If no one understands your nonsense, the universe is open, shout it out to God and He will listen and give you hope again.
© JOHN ARTHUR
