Fellowship in Sorrows: A Litmus Test of Friendship

Whenever a person is stricken by huge blows—i mean, big problems— one normally resorts to his friends and relatives thinking perhaps they may become an aid to get oneself away from a very tight spot. More often than not, each time we are placed into life's combat zone where we are faced against our worst nemesis, we are always bent to retreat and look for assistance from those people whom we think would never leave us in our direst predicament. We just have this thought in ourselves that God would somehow use those people who are so close to us to console us in our deepest sorrows.

In a word, we are a social being and theologically, a creature that is designed to fellowship and be in communion with others. Hence, in times of our desperate need, we cling to others. We depend on them because we have this certainty that they would help us on the account that we are loved by them. 

And surprisingly, by the huge number of friends that we have, we would be surprised that contrary to what we usually expect, occasionally there'd hardly a few of them who would extend their helping hand in our teary plight. You see, troubles and adversities, come and go. In times of ease, we normally savor the delectable taste of friendship, but when troubles arise, they suddenly disappear into thin air.

With that being said, we can say that, at one crucial point, the advent of our troubles is a huge blessing for us. They afford us discernment as to who truly are our friends and who are the counterfeits. It's basically a litmus test of friendship that when one abides you in your trouble, even if that person has been remotely away from you in your ease, surely he is genuinely a friend for you. A friend is a person who loves you and never turns his back on you at your worst. A friend is one who is willing to sacrifice even his life for your sake. Jesus is a perfect specimen of what true friendship is all about.

"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."
— Jesus, [John 15:13]

The truest essence of friendship is best seen in times when we are visited by our own griefs. It's the perfect occasion for us to see who our true friends really are. Jesus, as our true friend, has been very sincere to us even if we do not share the same level of affection with him. His disciples leave him on the cross, but Christ continues to die for them.

"Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end."

— Jesus, [John 13:1B]