[Most articles can be downloaded; if you see no download form, write to us.]

During my high school studies, I had a buddy classmate. We shared not only the school subjects but also long talks over coffee about life, our adolescence, our families, dreams, projects: everything one longs to share with another, open-heartedly and sincerely. He was a good-hearted person, honest, frank, but considerate too. If something did not seem right about the other, we talked about it with respect and, even if we disagreed, we could say “I’ll think about it, maybe you’re right”. It seemed like a true friendship.

But there was a disconcerting detail: He was an atheist! Moreover, he believed communist ideology. Many times we talked about transcendent values and, when we came to God, he said: “Fernando, if God exists, he is too good to be true. I want to believe, but that kind of faith is a gift, and I do not have it.”

After we graduated, our paths sent us to different parts of the country. When there was no Internet, I lost contact with him — but only the personal contact. I prayed for him and said to the Lord: “You must do something about him! He is a good person!”

Twenty-five years passed and, thanks to social networks, I met my friend again. He had converted to Jesus, married and had children. We were even working in the same profession!

Through this, the Lord taught me: Where there is sincerity, honesty, and restlessness to seek the good, he is dwelling there and working, even if we cannot notice it. He does not contradict himself. The ability to be sincere, good, and honest comes from letting the owner of these attributes (and many more) shine in us. Only God knows our history and knows why we have not taken the fundamental step in faith, but he always triumphs.

That is why a true friend can never betray you. He seeks your good and tells you the truth, even at the risk of you thinking ill of him, getting angry or pushing him away from your life. A true friend is not stuck in life. A true friend always seeks to lead you on the right path and help you fulfill your dreams while sharing his own. He respects you!

Jesus is the Perfect Friend. He did not hesitate to lay down his life for you and me. He keeps looking for us, educating us and loving us in a thousand ways, and one way is through an earthly friend. My friend of this testimony, in fact is named Albert, but from the teaching that the Lord gave me, for me today he is Jesus Albert.

May we discover and value the immense gift Jesus gives us in every friendship. True friends are flashes of HIS LIGHT!

© 2017 by Fernando Ramos

---

Next: The Highest Form of Friendship >>

See more WordBytes on Spiritual Growth >>

Find more faith-builders by visiting the Good News Ministries home page>>