Friendships That LastSample

Serving Friends in Love

God first loved us. Love is His idea, and He shows us how to love ourselves and others. We love best as we stay connected to Him. When we fully receive God’s unconditional love, it changes the way we treat others. He moves us to show love in ways we may never have thought to do before. We begin to notice the needs of people around us and see how we can help them.

So what does love do? It acts! Love causes us to treat our family members with kindness, help at church, take a meal to a sick neighbor, or care for a young child whose mother needs to visit the doctor. These are all wonderful acts of service, and they reflect God’s love in the lives of those around us. Jesus has called us to serve others as though we are serving Jesus Himself. Love sees people and responds to their needs. Love is what moves us to comfort, help, encourage, correct, and support others. Love is what causes us to put forth the effort to bring others to Jesus. 

Think about the ways you show God’s love to those around you. Are you loving and serving others as if they were Jesus? Ask God to help you to love your friends as He has called you to do and invite Him to transform your service to bring glory to His great name. You are the hands and feet of a loving God who has called you to share His love with the world around you. Allow Him to use your service for His glory—and experience His transforming love in all new ways.

• What acts of loving service has God called you to? How did you respond?
• What happened the last time you followed God's prompting to love and serve someone?

The gift of a true friend can be one of our greatest joys! God gives us wisdom in developing true friendships that reflect His love. 

If you’d like to continue reading about nurturing friendships that last, please click here to download another week of devotions that will help you to strengthen the friendships in your life.