Friends with Benefits

Friends with benefits. The phrase probably whisks you back to sometime during your high school career. Without getting into it, back then, friends with benefits were two people doing things they shouldn't have been doing.

But let me share with you an instance where being a friend with benefits isn't bad at all, in fact, it is encouraged!

"Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you."

                                                                                                                       John 15:14-15

It is our goal in life to earn the right to be called Christ's friend. How do we do that? We do it through obedience.

So what does it mean to be Christ's friend? Here are three thoughts:

1.  You spend time with those you call friends. Therefore we spend time with Christ through scripture study, prayer, church attendance, etc.

2. You have common interests with your friends. Are our interests those of the Savior? Are our minds occupied with the same type of thoughts that Christ entertains?

3. Friends stand with their friends in times of great need. We weren't there when Christ suffered and was condemned, abused, and crucified; but we can stand with Christ by bearing our testimony of Him and His sacrfice, by being willing to take upon ourselves the name of Christ.



And once we are friends, what are the benefits? Again, in John 15, our Lord said:

"I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you." (v. 15)

In the Doctrine &Covenants is another benefit:

"I will call you friends, for you are my friends, and ye shall have an inheritance with me" (D&C 93:45)

So it sounds like the benefits of being called Christ's friends are pretty great, including having an inheritance with Him!  It sounds like a pretty great deal to transition from a servant into a friend!

 

What other benefits can identify from being a friend of the Savior's rather than simply a servant?

If you find value in these posts please pass them onto your friends! I appreciate it!

Photo courtesy of Espen Faugstad Some Rights Reserved