Friendships in Christ

Our love for Christ must reach beyond ourselves and those who are beautiful in our eyes. We are all attracted to certain people, whether they are beautiful, funny, interesting, etc. but what love is, is reaching out and loving those who aren't easy for us to love. Everyone likes to interact with people who jive with them, but how about those that are hard to love? The next door neighbor lady who is always grumpy, the guy who never has a kind word to say, or how about the girl who is more often than not depressed, these are all people that may not be easy for us to become friends with, but why?

If our goals in friendship are self focused, which I have to admit I am guilty of :-(, then ultimately we will never be able to have friends who we don't jive with, or who we feel uncomfortable around. But why do you feel comfortable? Is it because your friendships have no depth? Is it because you aren't encouraging your friends towards Christ? 

When our mission in life is to encourage others to love God more, then having friendships with those who are not our "groupies" will not be a problem. When friendship is no longer purely about us, then our ability to reach out and disciple will grow. Jesus ate with all types. He ate with publicans and sinners. Our God is a God who reaches out to those who are hurting and heals them. May we follow his example in our daily lives all the more.