Do you have a BF, BFF, or a bestie? If so, this is a day to celebrate them because this is National Best Friend Day. According to a recent poll, 83% of Americans say that they have a best friend. “Americans crave more time with their friends, with a majority saying they miss their companions. Over three-quarters (76 percent) said they wish to spend more quality time with friends, while half said they “always or often” leave their friends feeling like they didn’t have enough time together.”1
Best friends are definitely a special sort. They get you and love you even though they know all your quirks and faults. When the chips are down, they will be the first one to drop everything and rush to your side. You can reveal your heart and those deep, dark secrets to them, knowing that the information is safe and will be held in confidence.
For those who are married, I would hope we can say that our spouse is our best friend. There’s nobody else we would rather be with, and they meet all the criteria of a bestie. We want to spend time with them and if we had to be stranded on a deserted island, they are the one we would want stranded with us.
Friends and friendships are in the Bible, one of the most familiar being that of David and Jonathan. 1 Samuel 18:1-4 says, “And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. (2) And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father’s house. (3) Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. (4) And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.”
Those with perverted, twisted minds have tried to paint this as a homosexual relationship. Sadly, our culture casts that insinuation upon any close friendship of two guys or two gals. If you see them laughing, spending time together, hugging, arm-in-arm, and doing a lot of things together, then they must be gay. That is beyond sick and twisted! Because of the
judgments, many are afraid to have a same sex BFF. And, teens will rush to have a “boyfriend” or “girlfriend” just to prove that they are straight.
Having a close, same sex friend is not a sin nor is it perverted. It seems to be the way God made us with that desire and need for a companion in life. God created us to be a community type of people rather than being reclusive. And Jesus demonstrated this Himself.
Matthew 11:19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.
Matthew 26:50 And Jesus said unto [Judas], Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him.
John 11:11 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Exodus 33:11 And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend…
The songwriter says, “What a friend we have in Jesus.” How true that is! Jesus is the greatest friend we will ever have – or need. Even our bestie comes in second place to the friendship we have in Jesus. Let me leave you today with these words of our Friend in John 15:13-14. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (14) Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.”
1https://www.newsweek.com/americans-best-friends-friendships-survey-poll-1978740#:~:text=More%20than%20three-quarters%20of%20Americans%20have%20a%20best,would%20give%20two%20of%20their%20friends%20that%20title.
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