Friends – Day 5: Jesus, the Model Friend

If you want to learn how to be a friend, look at Jesus. He is the model for healthy relationships.

Scripture of the Day

"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you."

John 15:13–15 (NIV)

Jesus didn't keep His distance. He called His disciples friends, and then He proved it: He made known everything He had received from the Father, and He laid down His life. His friendship was open, costly, and fully given.

John echoes this in his letter: "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life... so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete" (1 John 1:1–4). Fellowship with Jesus is where our joy becomes complete — and it is the pattern for every other friendship.

When we ask, "What does it look like to be a good friend?" the answer starts with Him: someone who is honest and open, who sacrifices, who stays, and who invites others into real fellowship.

Reflection Question

Which part of Jesus' friendship — openness, sacrifice, loyalty, or fellowship — most challenges the way you show up for the people closest to you?

Prayer

Jesus, thank You for calling me Your friend. Teach me to love the way You loved: openly, sacrificially, and faithfully. Make me the kind of friend who points people to fellowship with You. Amen.

In His grace,

The Brook Church Miami