And now I love, and I understand what love is. I do not seek my own interests, boast, or envy, and I love at all times. This is a very good condition of the soul. It fills life with meaning, happiness, and constant delight. It heals the soul and produces a spirit of gratitude for everything that happens.
Your Love never fails. How deeply you desire those whom you love at least to believe this, to believe in you, and to begin receiving and enjoying your love.
How wonderful it is to meet someone who has a love for you that can be called agape.
Let us imagine what this is like.
Your friend tells you that he loves you. He says it freely, expecting nothing in return. He has made this decision for himself and lives according to his choice. He demands nothing in exchange but looks for opportunities to put his love into action and somehow make you happy. As usually happens, you do not believe that he is sincere, but just in case, you test him. You want to discover how deep this love is and whether it is genuine. Your response may take many forms: ridicule, insults, indifference, aggression, interest, requests for help, questions, observation, trust, or attempts to understand the loving person’s true motive. Yet he loves and endures everything. It is very difficult to believe that someone loves you. You have already experienced so much betrayal and disappointment in life that you have become accustomed to closing yourself off from everyone. Even when you allow someone into your life, you do so only under certain conditions. But this person loves without any conditions and does so continually. What if it is true? It is almost frightening to imagine. It would mean that I have forever become someone very precious and close to this person. It means that throughout his life, he will look for strengths and positive qualities in me and admire them. It means that he will never become a traitor and will never harm me. Yet in all this, he lives humbly, waiting for my decision and joyfully accepting everything I do and decide. He knows how to wait and can do so for an entire lifetime. Unfortunately, sometimes we truly appreciate the love of such a person only after his death. Life is so short and fleeting. How deeply we long to recover its moments, but it is no longer possible.
How I long to become a child so that I can simply receive my friend’s love and enjoy it. But life experience and a corrupted, closed heart greatly interfere with this.
Rejoice if you have such a person, such a friend, in your life. His worth exceeds all the riches of this world. His presence brings peace and rest, joy and blessing to everything. With him, you can make many plans and accomplish much.
It is so wonderful when someone appears in your life who loves you with agape love. It is especially joyful when you notice and receive it. Such people bring only happiness, love, and friendship into your life. Wherever they are, blessings appear and there is steady spiritual gain with no loss. They are a kind of victor, moving unwaveringly toward the goal and knowing what they are doing. Their confidence inspires you as well.
The question is, where can you find such a person, such a friend? There is an answer: become that person yourself. If you want to have many friends, show yourself friendly. This spirit, like a magnet, will draw the very best things to you. It will also make you more beautiful and interesting.
How wonderful it is when a person appears in your life who simply loves you. You cannot produce this love within him. It is his choice. He must arrive at it himself, make the decision, and become firmly established in it. Despite all your friendliness, you cannot force him to do this. But you can help him by giving him your love and friendship. Therefore, sow love. Whatever you sow, you will also reap.
If you have a friend who loves you, value him and receive his humble offer to love you. This will bring great joy to his heart, and then he will be able to do much good for you. If necessary, he will give you the very best things he possesses within his soul, if only you may be well.
If you do not yet have such a friend, or if you have not yet noticed him, I want to assure you that this is not so. There are earthly friends who may cease to be present or may never have been present. But there are Heavenly friends Who are always present and love you very deeply. The Very Best Friend has already come. He is right beside you, very near—only the closed door of your weary heart separates you from Him. He is waiting only for your decision to open your heart to Him. He will enter, heal you, teach you something very good, answer all your requests, fulfill all your desires, and show you great and hidden things that you do not know. His Name is Jesus, the Son of God, the Son of Man. He has already decided to become your Friend. He is already your Friend, and He will give you many friends.
There is also an entire army of kind Angels who have cared for you and carried you in their arms since childhood. They love you even if you do not believe it, and they await meeting you in Eternity. They are your loving friends forever. There are very many of them. They know you very well, and they are very kind.
If you have a friend in this world who continually tells you or writes to you about his love and friendship, rejoice that you have him. What you do with him is your decision.
There is a proverb: “Water does not flow beneath a stone that lies still.” In my dreams, I can reach the highest peaks and gain the entire world. But the reality is that I must get up, leave my private space, and begin to act.
Looking for friends in the garbage dump of this world is not a very rewarding task. You do not know what will come of it, and perhaps you will be unsuccessful. But God has proven places where dependable people gather. They may not even know that someone is looking for them as friends, but they are waiting for the real you. Within God’s family are very many of your friends who have been missing you for a long time. They are ready for true friendship, but they do not know how such relationships are built and therefore hesitate to take this step.
And now we have met. We are family in Christ but strangers in our relationship because we do not yet know one another. I take a step of faith and enter your life forever. What will you do with me? That is your choice. It is not so complicated. Yet this approach gives me an advantage: I begin first so that I will never retreat. I know the laws of friendship and live by them. I begin applying them to another person and see their operation and power. They enter your life and change everything. You have nowhere to escape. You are destined for eternal friendship if you desire it and make that decision.
Every relationship involves choice. Even God takes our desires into consideration and does not establish me in something I have not chosen. But He has given a commandment that must go into effect and accomplish God’s will in our lives.
True friendship is the response and agreement of two hearts. We can build upon such a foundation. But what exactly should we build? We decide that. It may consist merely of polite greetings, kind words, friendly conversation, shared activities, common possibilities for growth, or something more. We decide. But perhaps we have not yet met. To do so, we must simply get up, go out, and find one another. Moreover, we have the Lord, Who loves giving us to one another forever. Then you look and marvel: you were not here before, but now you are.
Bible Verses for Reflection
John 15:4; Colossians 2:2–3; 3:10, 12–14; Psalm 91:11; 34:7; Philippians 4:4–7; Ephesians 3:3–20; Revelation 3:21; 2 Corinthians 5:14; 6:11–13; 11:29; 12:15; 13:11–13; Isaiah 60:1–4.