Not Alone Series: What is Love in Friendship

I actually really meant to write up a post last week but it still wasn't done by Friday today so I gave up and decided to work on next Tuesdays so it's ready in time.  Linking up at Morgan's Blog, Follow and Believe.
                                   

What is Love in Friendship?

The Friendship that isn't a Friendship Anymore

Someone may be your best friend for a time and for whatever reason they are no longer in your life. There will always be people that pass in and out of your life. I had a best friend in middle school and just slowly over the years we grew apart because of multiple things; different interests, different friends, different schools, etc. It's okay for that to happen.  I used to think that once someone is my friend we must be best friends forever and ever until I die and if we start to drift apart then I'm doing something wrong and it was the most horrible thing in the world. Just because someone may not be as close to you as they once were or have passed from your life because of differences doesn't mean you stop caring and loving them. From a different perspective there are times when a friendship can even be unhealthy and shouldn't go on because it's only negatively impacting your life. Even in that case you can continue to love them. Praying for them is love. 

The Best Friend that is Basically Your Sister

Then there is the friendship that you know will last and always be there. You know because of the love in the friendship. I have a best friend whom I consider a sister. We are very different people even when it comes to our faith, but that doesn't make me love her any less. I may consider her a sister but that still means there are fights and misunderstandings sometimes (and we're both stubborn, there's been a couple times over the years we wont talk for a month), but what is key is that we know no matter what nothing is so big that it can come between our friendship. 

What makes the friendship work so well is the love that is there. We are always willing to listen to each other and help one another. If I'm upset she is there or if she can't be with me at the moment she gives me all she can give me to help me. I truly genuinely want the best for her out of love. I want her to be happy and find everything she needs and when she is hurt and upset it breaks my heart too.  These friendships are a lot more rare, but they truly show the beauty of love in friendship. 

Since we are kind of awful about taking pictures together... as in like we don't have any together the past two years... here is one from high school! Because love in friendship is cutting your best friends bangs during your lunch break.

The Friendship that is Struggling

This is a question close to my heart at the moment, because I'm struggling with another friendship. She has been a best friend for 5 or 6 years now and she's choosing very different life choices than I am and it has been causing tension in our relationship. We aren't always willing to listen to each others viewpoints and we aren't always truly thinking of the other person. I've been hurt by things she's done lately and I'm sure she's been hurt by me also. 

Even in a friendship that is struggling, we should always show compassion and love for that person. Because that friendship is struggling it deserves our attention even more so and our willingness to love the other person even if its hard.  In this friendship it's especially important to be willing to listen and put the other person before yourself. It deserves the time to think about why you became friends in the first place and to pray and take the frustrations and struggles of the friendship to God. 

 If "the friendship that is struggling" gets to the point where it does become an unhealthy friendship, we also need to learn to love them by letting go. Then love them by praying, and praying, and praying for them. 

And just for a fun because I never have pictures to post, another of my best friend and I at our graduation. 

I have no excuse for the awful, weird, awkward collar on my dress...