JESUS CALLS US FRIEND

JESUS CALLS US FRIEND
Monday, July 13, 2026 by Linda Wood Rondeau

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

(Proverbs 18:2 NIV)

“Why can’t we be friends, why can’t we be friends?” the song by War (1975) asks. The iconic song makes a statement about the absurdity of judging others based on our differences.

Reportedly, the band got the idea for the song while traveling in Japan in the early '70s, a realization that although language and culture varied, people were basically the same. The populist idea spread like wildfire, and the song still strikes a familiar chord.

With all the postmodern, humanist philosophies wrapping the planet in feel-good mantras, the question still permeates, “Why can’t we be friends?” What separates one human being from friendship with another? What walls must be broken down to reach across the aisle and shake an opponent’s hand?

Generally, people stand on either side of a line based on cultural, social, moral, geographical loyalties, size, agendas, or perceived importance.

Friendships beyond the usual neighborhood, church, and work associations are often formed through a shared experience, continued presence, and acceptance. Two golfers will unite through their struggles on a particularly tough hole. Two mothers will bond through their children, and strangely, as put forth in an Arabian proverb:

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

However, these friendships may be superficial or transient. And we long for permanent inclusion.

In the discourse before his crucifixion, Jesus tells His disciples how deeply he loved them. He tells them they are his friends.

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.

(John 14:9-14 NIV)

The word for friend in this verse implies more than an acquaintance or seasonal friend, one who comes into our lives for a time. It is the term used to describe a king’s inner circle and denotes an intimate, lasting relationship with privileged access, the right to be heard by the king himself.

The Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle claimed there were three levels of friendship: the useful friendship as a common enterprise, the pleasant friendship as entertaining companionship, and the good or virtuous friendship as mutual esteem. In all these things, Christ is our friend who has broken every barrier down so that frail humankind can enter into a lasting friendship with God through His son’s redemptive work. God does not save us merely to leave us. He is an ever-present friend who longs to fellowship with us.

He accepts us as we are and rejoices over us with singing.

FOR FREE DEVOTIONALS BY LINDA WOOD RONDEAU

LESSONS ALONG THE WAY

From the author of I Prayed for Patience: God Gave Me Children and Who Put the Vinegar in the Salt

Life is a series of adventures. And each adventure shows us more about our God … his power manifested or his gentle patience demonstrated.

God is with us through the mundane and the miraculous, always teaching us how to experience him fully and lean on him every day.

As in the hymn of old, God leads along—sometimes through troubled waters, sometimes through fire, and sometimes by quiet streams. Always, he is with us, directing us, guiding us, and teaching us what obedience, trust, and love truly mean.

Adapted from her long-running newspaper column, each devotional is a revelation of one of God’s many blessings.

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