Friendship with Jesus

By Greg Laurie, Op-ed contributor Sunday, July 01, 2007

You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. —John 15

How do we show our friendship for Jesus? How do we show our love for Him? In John 15:14, Jesus points out three things we can do to show our friendship with God.

First, true friends of Jesus will obey Him. Quite simply, we will do what He says. If we don't, then we have no right to call ourselves His friends.

Next, this friendship with Jesus, this obedience that results from it, is an active obedience. Some people think it's enough if they avoid what He forbids. And certainly being a Christian means ceasing to do certain things. But it also means starting to do certain things. It is not merely avoiding the wrong, but it is doing the right.

How do we find out what God wants us to do? By reading the Bible, by becoming familiar with its content. The more we know of this Book, the more we will know of God. The more we know of this Book, the more we will know about what He requires of us and what friendship with Him actually is.

Lastly, true friends of Jesus obey Him continually. In other words, we are constantly obedient—not perfect, but trying. And if we fail, then we repent and get up and try again.

This obedience should not be too hard because of whom we are obedient to. This is Jesus asking for our obedience. That changes everything, because we love Him. When we are in love with God, obedience will not be a duty; it will be a delight. And if our Christian life has become drudgery, merely consisting of rules and regulations, then we are missing out on what friendship with God is all about.

Used with Permission