Are Friendships A Calling?

I realize it’s been a while since I’ve posted and for that I’m truly sorry. Between “honey-dos,” a writers’ conference and illness, I neglected my blog. So please accept my apology.

I’ve spent some time during the past few days sending out “Thank You” e-mails. I realize hand-written notes would be better but I don’t have the recipients’ street addresses. I was expressing my appreciation to a lot of people who contributed to the very uplifting experience I had at the conference. These wonderful people inspired me to pursue my passion for writing with an even greater conviction and I wanted to let them know how much I value them.

Writing these notes, I realized just how important it is for all of us to express our love and caring for others. Usually we go through life assuming others know how we feel about them, but they often don’t. And if they do, they still like to hear (or read) about how much they are appreciated; how much they are loved. For true love is a deep caring about the wellbeing of another. It is the love God displayed when He allowed His Son to die in our stead so that we may walk with Him now and forever.

The need to be loved is very strong in all of us. This is the way God created us. And if we were created to love and be loved then it makes sense that we are all called to love one another. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment is, He told us that first and foremost we are to love God completely. But He also told us that the second most important commandment is to love everyone as much as we love ourselves, and that this commandment is just as important as the first. In other words, loving others is the most important calling in life, and one we all share.

Although we all share this same calling, we will each have a unique way of expressing this calling. God did not create us to be robots. There are people in the world who can best be reached by me and there are others who can best be reached by you. So if I don’t answer my calling, then someone else will have to fill in for me; someone who will not relate as well to those others as I would. Thus neglecting my calling will result in a less than optimal outcome in the lives of others. And it could result in others being eternally lost because I didn’t express God’s love for them as I should have.

The bottom line is this. If you are certain of your calling, don’t ignore it. Realize that just because it’s your calling doesn’t mean it will be easy. None of us grow form doing what is easy. Our calling will include challenges and the more important the calling, the more difficult the challenges will be. Just remember, the more difficult the challenges, them greater will be our growth in character.