new church life: september/october 2016
If we don’t use the
truths we learned to
discern between what’s
good and evil, then we
slowly become numb to
those evils to the point
where they no longer
are repulsive to us.
his own flesh and blood.
So he was willing to give up
the right to be king, and bow to the
Lord’s will and support the Lord’s
goodness that he found in David. He
was even willing to risk his own life –
“to lay down his life for his friend” – if
necessary. (I Samuel 20)
We are told that their souls were
tied or knit together. Why? Because
they shared a mutual love of the same
good; they both were striving to serve
the Lord’s will. And in the covenant
they swore toge ther before the Lord,
the criteria of their deep and interior
friendship became evident.
Jonathan said: “The Lord judge between you and me . . . forever.” This was
not a friendship entered into blindly. It was based on faith in the Lord’s Word,
and was to be judged in accordance with the truth. It might have been said,
“You are my friend if you do whatever the Lord commands you.”
By contrast from this deep bond of friendship, to the point that their souls
were knit together and they loved each other as their own soul, it becomes
evident how dangerous it would be to have your soul tied or knit to someone
in evil. Because if you allow the evils of a friend to be enmeshed with the good
qualities of the Lord in yourself, it will be extraordinarily difficult to rip this
fabric apart in the next life.
So as we all strive to form those genuine friendships with those around us
that we all treasure, let’s remember to separate personality from character and
learn to love only what is good in the person. This means that we must first
learn the truth, then shun evils as sins,
and finally do good to our neighbor.
In this way we will form genuine
lasting friendships based on mutual
good, trust and respect, and become a
true friend of the Lord by doing what
He has commanded us – loving one
another as He has loved us. We will be
transformed into a fruitful branch of
the vine, and then we will no longer
be called just servants but friends –
because living the truth of the Ten
So we are instructed
only to love the good
in our friends, and
be careful that we
don’t get tricked into
loving, condoning and
supporting the evil.
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