[walkwjc]

I originaly posted this in Becky's Blog but thought it would make a good devotional.
Please comment, add to it, take away from, or tell me what you think of it. Comments are greatly appreciated.

Phillipians 2 from the Holman Christian Standard bible:

Phi 2:1 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,
Phi 2:2 fulfill my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, sharing the same feelings, focusing on one goal.

Friends are like these two verses. You share a common thing with a friend and often it may be only one thing. You and I share Christ and are part of one body: the church. So I could talk to you all week, come back a year from now and talk again like old friends because we have something major in common in our lives that is not likely to change.

Phi 2:3 Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.
Phi 2:4 Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
Phi 2:5 Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus,

Like you said above about doing some of the leg work in a relationship...some times you have to open your ear and lay out your heart to a friend who needs it. Be their friend even when they walk not a step closer to you. When you are friends with people you also befriend their emotions, and moods, and attitudes.

Phi 2:6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage.
Phi 2:7 Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form,
Phi 2:8 He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death--even to death on a cross.
Phi 2:9 For this reason God also highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name,
Phi 2:10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow--of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth--
Phi 2:11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Remember this when your friends hurt you. Do not get mad, or bad mouth that person. Just remember that Jesus still loved Peter, even though Peter rejected him three times.

Phi 2:12 So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Even in the absence of love from a friend, work on your relationship with them in your mind and heart.

Phi 2:13 For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to will and to act for His good purpose.

Remember that God's work is not done in you, that everything He works in your life is for his purpose of completing the work he started.

Phi 2:14 Do everything without grumbling and arguing,
Phi 2:15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world.
Phi 2:16 Hold firmly the message of life. Then I can boast in the day of Christ that I didn't run in vain or labor for nothing.

Perserverance through the rough times in any relationship. Do not be the grumbler but the one who loved throughout the problems.

Phi 2:17 But even if I am poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.

Some times we sacrifice our lives for the expense of others. We tell that one person the things he/she does wrong or needs to change in their lives only to be shunned or shut out. That is the price a true friend pays. (that is why I preach to you so much some times )

Phi 2:18 In the same way you also should rejoice and share your joy with me.

And we do it for the comming joy, if not in this world but the next.

Phi 2:19 Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon so that I also may be encouraged when I hear news about you.
Phi 2:20 For I have no one else like-minded who will genuinely care about your interests;

Now Paul wishes to send Timothy to the church, so that Timmy will look after their best interests and also report back to him the good news and good works of the church. That is often what God does with us. He will send us out as a friend to look out for a persons best interests and be there for them when they fall and pick them back up.

Phi 2:21 all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
Phi 2:22 But you know his proven character, because he has served with me in the gospel ministry like a son with a father.
Phi 2:23 Therefore, I hope to send him as soon as I see how things go with me.
Phi 2:24 And I am convinced in the Lord that I myself will also come quickly.
Phi 2:25 But I considered it necessary to send you Epaphroditus--my brother, co-worker, and fellow soldier, as well as your messenger and minister to my need--

This is how we must be as friends: unselfish, and willing to go the distance in the interest of our friends.

Phi 2:26 since he has been longing for all of you and was distressed because you heard that he was sick.

We should worry when our friends are sick, physically or spiritually.

Phi 2:27 Indeed, he was so sick that he nearly died. However, God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, so that I would not have one grief on top of another.

Pray for God to have mercy on them.

Phi 2:28 For this reason, I am very eager to send him so that you may rejoice when you see him again and I may be less anxious.
Phi 2:29 Therefore, welcome him in the Lord with all joy and hold men like him in honor,

Be happy for them, even when thier honor is for our sake or doens't include us at all.

Phi 2:30 because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up what was lacking in your ministry to me.

Because often that same friend that we are mad at this year, will save our faith in the next, stand up for us when we are down and often be doing all of the leg work for us when we stray from the friendship.

I just thought this was pretty relevant since yesterday, you read Phillipians 1. From my experience with friends, the friendship role changes as you get older. You are at a point in life where change is drastic because often peoples lives are changing drastically. I lost all of my High School friends at 19, we all went different ways and different towns. Some to college, some to work, some moved some married some stayed home some some moved to South Africa. So don't worry too much about people not responding...just be there if they comeback and make new friends.

In the same breath, as you get older, you aren't going to have time for too many close friends because in the next say 5-10 yrs your life is going to change drastically as you enter adulthood.

Awesome Becky said:
The question is, who is important to me, and why.
Who am I willing to fight for a friendship with.. and how much time do I have to do that with.

That is the question indeed. Fight for the relationships as you think Christ would. And just be there for the rest of them, you never know when a friend will come back around and rekindle a deep friendship.

I hope this helps, I have a lot of experience with messed up friends and the ups and downs, and let me tell you it gets harder after your teen years.

In Christ's Awesome Love
-d