Recently I have felt prompted to tell my friends how valuable they are and how important they are to my life development. One of my best friends, who definitely lives up to this is Ty Robbins. I have had the privilege of knowing Ty for almost two years and it has been such a great adventure!
Our friendship began through a church's local college ministry and we have strived to live Proverbs 27:17 through thick and thin. There have been times of struggle for sure, times of growth, and times of extreme excitement and energy. Many of the exciting times revolve around our passion for ministry and our mutual enjoyment of nature and the great outdoors.
It is so awesome to watch Ty live his life while witnessing to those around him. These include his GSM small group, the AMWED small group, his 5 Star guys, and his hockey teammates. I am encouraged when I hear of his love for his family and how he strives to be a good example to his parents and siblings. I enjoy getting up in the morning to see Ty already making breakfast and reading his One Year Bible. Not many housemates have that privilege!
Our friendship began through a church's local college ministry and we have strived to live Proverbs 27:17 through thick and thin. There have been times of struggle for sure, times of growth, and times of extreme excitement and energy. Many of the exciting times revolve around our passion for ministry and our mutual enjoyment of nature and the great outdoors.
It is so awesome to watch Ty live his life while witnessing to those around him. These include his GSM small group, the AMWED small group, his 5 Star guys, and his hockey teammates. I am encouraged when I hear of his love for his family and how he strives to be a good example to his parents and siblings. I enjoy getting up in the morning to see Ty already making breakfast and reading his One Year Bible. Not many housemates have that privilege!
The greatest thing I have learned through my friendship with Ty is that each person desperately needs to have someone in their life with whom they can be honest and open, someone who will encourage them to take the narrow road vs the wide road (Matthew 7:13), and someone who will fight alongside them through prayer.
Unfortunately, for most people, the idea of "christian friendship" simply means someone that you hang out with at church. Very similar to the term "business associate" the only difference being that the location has changed to a church building rather than an office!
The New Testament paints a very different picture of friendship. It is a friendship that you are willing to lay down your life for, one that you are partnering with to spread the Gospel (koinonia), one that you can build confidence and trust on, and one that you can see marked progression of steps toward the image of Christ:
- Christian friends are to love sacrificially
- "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)
- A friendship should never be all about me, and vice versa. Friends should be mutually willing to sacrifice for the other person.
- Christian friends accept unconditionally
- "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." (Proverbs 17:17)
- There are going to be hard times in a friendship, that's obvious. What most people do though, is leave a friend who stumbles across difficult times in order to find a friend that is "easier to hang out with". This is the world's stance on friendship, not the Bible's. The Bible says that Christian friendship is BORN for adversity. That we are given the strength inside to endure it along with our Christian brother or sister. That's so encouraging!
- Christian friends trust completely
- "A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." (Proverbs 18:24)
- I honestly believe that Christian friends, over time, can prove that they are willing to stick closer than a brother or sister.
- Christian friends keep healthy boundaries
- "Love is patient, love is kind..." (1 Corinthians 13:4)
- Sometimes, instead of confronting the sin all the time, it is best to be patient and remain dedicated to praying for a close Christian friend. Prayer is powerful and it works!
- Christian friends give mutual edification
- "Wounds from a friend can be trusted..." (Proverbs 27:6)
- Sometimes the hard messages have to be delivered and I have found that most people in my life choose not to deliver that message because they don't want to hurt my feelings. This is not the case with Ty! He is willing to tell me when I am making mistakes, even if it means stepping on my toes.
A few quotes on friendship:
"A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down."
~ Arnold Glasow
"Is any pleasure on earth as great as a circle of Christian friends by a fire?"
~ C.S. Lewis
"Would you throw away a diamond because it pricked you?
One good friend is not to be weighed against all the jewels of all the earth.
If there is coolness or unkindness between us, let us come face to face and have it out.
Quick, before the love grows cold. Life is too short to quarrel in, or carry dark thoughts of friends.
It is easy to lose a friend, but a new one will not come for calling, nor make up for the old one when he comes."
~ Leaves of Gold
"A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend;
one human soul whom we can trust utterly;
who knows the best and the worst of us,
and who loves us in spite of all our faults;
who will speak the honest truth to us,
while the world flatters us to our face and laughs at us behind our back."
~Charles Kingsley
