Who's My True Friend?

I have heard of a classic story since I was in my school days and it was very popular. This story was about Damon and Pythias, said to have taken place in the Sicilian city-state of Syracuse in the fourth century B.C. As I'm sure many of you remember, these two men had been close friends since childhood. Pythias spoke out against the tyranny of the ruler, Dionysius, and was subsequently arrested and condemned to death. As a last request he asked if he might be allowed to go back home to say goodbye to his wife and children and to put his household in order before his execution. Dionysius was not willing to risk Pythias' fleeing, until Damon stepped forward and offered to pledge his own life and be imprisoned until Pythias returned. The condition that Dionysius imposed was that Damon must be willing to die in his place if Pythias did not return 3 by the date of execution. Damon willingly agreed and Pythias gratefully left. As days and days went by, and the deadline approached, and there was no sign of Pythias, Dionysius visited the prison to see if Damon was sorry he had made such a bargain: "You were a fool to rely on your friend's promise. Did you really think he would sacrifice his life for you?" Yet, Damon remained confident of his friend's loyalty, explaining that perhaps the winds had kept him from sailing or he had met with some accident on the road. On the day of execution, Pythias still had not returned, and Dionysius smugly greeted Damon, who was bound and ready to die. "What do you think of your friend now?" asked the ruler. Damon simply replied, "He is my friend. I trust [that he has good reasons not to be here, and I am ready to die in his place]." Just as he finished speaking, Pythias suddenly appeared, staggering, beaten and bruised, and nearly speechless from exhaustion. "[Thank heaven I'm not too late!] You are safe, [Damon,] Praise the Gods," he gasped. Pythias then explained how his ship was wrecked in a storm and how he was then attacked by bandits on the road. "But I refused to give up hope," he declared. "At last I've made it back in time. I am ready to receive my sentence of death." Dionysius was utterly astonished. He was so emotionally overwhelmed by this demonstration of friendship -- in both directions -- that he revoked the sentence and let both go free, asking only that he could be taught how to be such a friend. "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friend."

There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

-John 15:13

Easier said than done? Well, the One who said this actually did it! Yes, He laid down His life for us because He knew that there was no other way we could live eternally.

In this world, where everything seems fake and where most of the people are so diplomatic, we have a hope that true friendship does exist. If we claim to walk in accordance to God’s word, we too will display this quality of friendship - Selflessness.

True friendship is rare to find these days. People are so focused on their needs and maintaining a good name in the society, that diplomacy and craftiness has taken over honesty and innocence in friendship. It’s no longer about what the other person feels or needs, it’s all about ME. The culture in corporate world is such that, people use the very same people as footstep to climb the ladder who helped them to shape their career at a very critical phase. So the word called Trust and friendships are just mere fictional words found in bed time story books in the industry.

We can find it very easy to push our friend into the pit in order to remain safe outside. We can only understand the true meaning of friendship when we realize the work done for us at the cross and apply it in our friendship as well.

You might be experiencing lots of stress and pressure in your school, workplace, home, personnel life. End results would be how you give in into the situation. When you put potatoes, egg and coffee beans into hot water, potatoes which is hardest gives in to the heat and turns softer, egg which is very tender becomes very hard, but coffee beans brings aroma and changes the liquid.

Most of teens experience ‘peer pressure’. But the fact is that if your friendship is true, there’s no pressure whatsoever. You are accepted for the person you are. The essence of friendship is comfort and honesty. A true friend will always make you feel comfortable, be honest to you about your flaws and yet love you and accept you. A friend won’t pressurize you to ‘fit in’. Neither  do you have to force anyone to believe the truth. Love and respect keeps friends bound. Jesus never looked down on people. He accepted people with love and spoke the truth in love. He never forced people to follow Him or believe in him. He only led a life of example which encouraged people to be like Him. You need not be a great preacher to bring your friends to know about the Salvation in Christ. Let your life be a testimony, just as the life of Jesus was. And even as people see Christ in you, God will start working in them!

-Neethu Shaju & Sussanah

It Does Not Always Have To Be Loud!

Many a times people end up saying things or doing things that hurt us and vice versa. We trust God and know that He is just. We believe that He will lift is up and deliver justice in His perfect time. So we pray, we forgive and we move on. But when God actually proves us right, we want to shout out loud and show how the other person wronged you. Isn't that a bit unfair? Sometimes, God actually likes to do things quietly and it's best to keep our excitement of being proved right to ourselves. We don't need to look down upon the person who wronged us. We are accountable for our own deeds, so let's decide to act wisely. Just because the person doesn't personally apologise to you, doesn't mean that you have to force one to do it. In that way you're just returning the bad done to you. That also means you didn't really forgive the person in the first place. 

Let's deal in love. Let's learn to keep somethings between God and ourselves. We don't need to always shout out from the roof tops. Not everyone needs to see God's justice in your life at every instance. Sometimes it's best when it's realised by you. Take joy in what the Lord has done for you and avoid taking steps that will take you back to the situation God got you out from. The only difference now would be, that you'll be the one taking the wrong step. 

The entire purpose of the Book of Esther is to help us realise that sometimes God likes to work quietly through cause and effect. Esther's role as a queen gave her a platform. It gave her a place where her voice could be heard and she could make a difference. She didn't know it, though, until God asked her to speak up. 

So, relax and wait patiently on the Lord. Obeying Him will only get better results. If he wants you to stay quiet, do so. You know what being in that pit is like. Instead of pointing out how wrong the person is and telling the whole world about it, learn to empathise and be helpful. That will only make your Heavenly Father more proud of you. 

BUSY???

When I think of last year, it’s been a wonderful year. Not that I haven’t been through rough phases, but it’s about how I’ve emerged out of them as a better and a stronger person.

With the New Year come new resolutions. We all try our best to live up to the standards we set up for ourselves. When I thought about my resolutions, the only statement that popped into my mind was you’re so busy these days! I haven’t been able to keep in touch with close friends, I haven’t been able to devote enough time to write my blogs, and the list goes on. But while thinking about all of this, I questioned myself: Are we really busy?? There are so many people who work hard, or maybe even harder than me and yet find enough time for themselves. And when I thought of all the possibilities, it all came down to just one problem : improper management of time. 

If we really prioritize things correctly, we can have enough time to catch up with the little things that bring happiness in our lives. And I delayed writing this article just because I first wanted to live up to it myself. I have got my priorities right and I have been able to take out time for all those things I avoided by reasoning that I’m busy!  

There are plenty of articles about time management with a lot more details. But I personally feel that prioritizing things correctly is all that you need to do.

Have a wonderful year by staying connected with the ones who beautify your life, doing the things that you love, taking joy in the little things that bring you happiness and also help in spreading smiles!