Recently I’ve been frustrated with some people in my life, angry when it doesn’t seem like they care about me as much as I care about them. However, these relationships brought me a great reminder: that God really does need to be my best friend.
I’ve always pursued a relationship with God and wanted to be closer to Him, but I tend to think of Him as a far-off being, not a father and friend. The Lord loves us more than anyone else and He wants to be close with every single one of us, if we just take time to be in His presence and talk to Him. He is the only one who can fill the emptiness we have, and the only one who can bring us true and complete joy.
We were created for fellowship with God and with other people, so we should always be pursuing relationships with the people around us. The problem comes when we idolize our friends, or put them and pleasing them before God. If we base our worth on how many friends we have or how popular we are, we will never be satisfied.
I have a huge problem with being a people-pleaser. I want everyone around me to be happy and to be pleased with me, so I try to never disappoint or offend anyone. This takes the focus from God in my friendships, and makes it about me and how I look in others’ eyes.
Being more concerned about pleasing others than about spending time with God is very unhealthy. While it’s good to be kind and loving to everyone, our first commandment is to love God, and not put anything or anyone before Him. So, I’ve realized that I need to be pursuing my relationship with God, and He will take care of my other relationships.
I want all my friendships to be based on God, whether we are supporting each other, or I’m reaching out to someone who needs God. This can only happen when I’m not looking to others for the love that I can only find in God. Having a close relationship with God will help me to be less selfish, and love others even when I don’t think they deserve it.
When my friends disappoint me I know that I have a perfect, loving friend that will never leave me or frustrate me. The more I find my worth in Him, the less confirmation I’ll need from other people. When God is my best friend, I’ll be able to pour out His love to others instead of looking to others for love.
“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:15.
