"Friend" me

I read this morning the story of a young man who came to know Christ as an adult.  What convinced him most of all was a friendship with a believer who flat-out loved him as a friend.  He was not someone's evangelism project, but friends, plain and simple.  And he knew it.  It did not matter that the two came from diametrically-opposed world views, indeed even that became one of the strengths of their close relationship. They felt free to live their lives out, sharing experiences, bantering about what they believed, and seeing how their different faiths looked without scripts in the real world.

This is the second time this month that I have read about an adult's conversion, the first being an university professor who was militantly opposed to Christianity.  Again, the turning point in this woman's life was not some huge mega-event at a church or carefully-crafted argument, but a simple friendship and a growing love for each other.  In this incidence, the woman's stereotype of Christians was completely derailed by how genuine these people were.  No pressure.  No presentations.  Just living life together and "to listen and to learn and to dialogue."

What does that feel like?  What does that look like?

And Jesus said to him,
"You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like it,
You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

                            Matthew 22. 37-39

Love God.
Love others.

That is how it works.  That is how God meant it to be.  He wired us for relationship -- with Himself and with others.  Love God that way, and you can't help but love others that way.

And He will change your life and everyone around you, one genuine friendship at a time.