Friends are a rare find these days, real friends that is. It seems to me like loyalty is a thing of the past, faithfulness is long forgotten, and selflessness is unheard of. I’ve heard it said many times that in order to have friends, one has to be a friend. In other words it takes effort on both sides. It means placing a friend’s wants and needs above our own. It means listening to a friend even when we think what we have to say is more significant. When they argue, we have to stop demanding that we’re right, even when we know we are. Of course there are exceptions, but generally those who make the effort to be the best friends HAVE the best friends.
I don’t understand what it is today that makes people (particularly girls) throw their closest friends under the bus for the sake of their own selfish ambitions, be it the fleeting attention from someone of the opposite sex or what have you. What ever happened to integrity, which is simply doing the right thing whether anyone else is there to watch—stopping gossip in it’s tracks in order to protect a friend’s reputation? Even if someone isn’t our friend, can’t we still be a friend to them, or has love already died in our hearts? Love isn’t simply a touchy feely thing we feel toward those who do nice things for us. Rather it’s a conscious decision to put someone else before ourselves, no matter how much they don’t deserve it. Not only is it unconditional, but it isn’t always nice. Love means letting someone know when they’re falling. Does anyone believe in that anymore? True love?
Another thing I don’t understand, though I’ll admit I’m very much guilty of it myself, is why [we] girls go around talking behind each other’s backs, living lives of jealousy and dissention and hating each other, yet being honey-sweet to each other’s faces. It’s disgusting. Why can’t we, adults included, grow up and get over ourselves? Literally.
Jesus said that there is no greater love than a man giving up his life for a friend, but who would actually do that? Not me. Do we even have that capacity to love? Do we understand that love isn’t simply being nice to someone? It is so much deeper than mere kindness.
What would happen if we loved? What would happen if we treated someone the way they don’t deserve to be treated—with love and compassion? How much more would the world around us be affected?
