I took a few days off blogging to compile thoughts and take care of somethings that needed to be taken care of, well, I am back now, and I have yet another topic pressing on us today. This is the topic of friendship. So often we miss the idea of what it means to be a friend. Good friends are hard to come by, and one of my largest faults as a human being is not trusting people. I have been hurt by people so much in my life, that it is difficult for me to trust anyone. I have been fighting this, and in turn, found some great friends who care about things that are important.
What I mean by things that are important is simple. Life is very simple when you let it be. Whenever I meet someone and let them be my real and true friend, they have to pass one test and one test only. Will this person push me to be the best human being I can possibly be? If the answer is yes, than I can be open and a friendship can begin. I think that so often we are caught up in this need of constant "fun." We have transformed life into a game. Life cannot and will not always be fun. Hardships will come about, things will not bounce your way, and what really matters at that point is where is your general life direction headed. A good friend will push you to holiness through these situations. That is what a true friend is for, to push you, prod you, force you into attempting to seek holiness. That is the goal that we all seek, to be holy.
What do I mean my holiness? My own personal definition for holiness is as follows. Attempting to reach perfection while knowing that your end goal is an impossibility, and yet, even though it is not attainable, you continue to strive for it anyway. Your friends are CRUCIAL in helping you reach this goal. You either seek holiness together, or you drag each other down. It is fine to be friendly with people who may drag you down, however, your true friends will lie with those that truly help you find God. If you find a good friend, do not lose them. You will need these people in your spiritual journey. To talk with, laugh with, and cry with. These people should mean a whole lot to you. You should equally participate in driving the other person to not seek mediocrity and truly be a shining example of Christ. We should not drag each other down, rather, lift each other up. If you have hurt a friend, ask for forgiveness. If you feel hurt, bring it up. True friends talk, true friends act, true friends care about more than the other person's happiness. They care about the state of their soul and their stake in eternal life. This is dedicated to my true friends. Thank you all for pushing me to be the best human I can be. You know who you are, and I thank and love you. Let us see what happens as we push each other to sainthood.
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I understand your problems with trusting people. I've fallen into the habit of giving my trust in a kind of strange way:
ReplyDeleteWhen I meet someone for the first time, I give them a certain level of trust, basically the benefit of the doubt. As I get to know more and more about that person, I change the amount of trust I give to that person. I have many friends where I only trust so far, and some that I trust almost completely. The method is a little strange, but it works very well for me.