Abiding

~Friday for Friends~

Continuing the Friday for Friends post series, the next word is "abide".

Abide means "to tolerate; to bear; to remain; to last; to conform to; to comply with". (Webster's dictionary, 1993)

Let's take the first 3 meanings. To be real friends with someone means to remain with him, even if you don't quite agree. I don't mean when he/she is sinning_- that's different-but when you just don't think alike on a topic. Like music tastes, book favories, the amount of risk you're willing to take. Maybe it just drives you nuts when your friend goes babbling on about her garden and you don't know the first thing there is to it. Or you're waiting for his soccer practice to end and he's taking a good long while in the locker room. Or maybe she's crying her heart out and you just don't see what's the big deal.

We're all different. Now matter how alike you and your friend are, there are always differences. We should try not to concentrate on them, but rather on the things that bring us close.

Just try to imagine how much God bears with us!

Ephesians 4:2 (NIV) says "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."

Amen!