“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

— 1 John 1:7

We all need friends, and when we become Christians, we suddenly join a worldwide fellowship of friends—friends we will enjoy forever. When the Spirit of God and the love and forgiveness of God fill our hearts, all the barriers sin has erected break down. Then, by the grace of God, husbands and wives, neighbors and friends, brothers and sisters, children and parents, nations and races reunite and reconcile one to another. We become one in Christ.

Are you experiencing this wonderful friendship in your life? Sometimes we don’t experience this fellowship because we allow sin to separate us from God and each other. This division wreaks havoc in our world. As we cease to share our values, emotions, and the deepest purposes of our lives, we grow more distant, more leery of connecting with anyone. And the lack of abiding friendships in our homes, schools, families, and even churches, causes anxiety, turmoil, and insecurity in our society. The Devil feeds on this division, working toward eternal separation of people from God and from one another.

But Christ stops that work. Christ unites us with God and with each other, creating a great big family, a family in the deepest, most spiritual, noblest, and holiest sense of the word. As believers, we develop a relationship so intimate that Paul describes it as one body. We unite to become the body of Christ.

The deep friendships we can have with other believers bring us great joy here on earth. They reflect the perfect unity Heaven has in store for us. In fact, we can anticipate Christian Communion, which will go far beyond earthly friendship, because we have brothers and sisters we have not even met but to whom we are closely linked through Christ for eternity. In an alienated and lonely world, the worldwide Church has a great privilege and opportunity to show the world true friendship.

I challenge you to build eternal friendships starting today. Can you think of a Christian brother or sister you’d like to know better? Take a step to connect today.

“Is any pleasure on earth as great as a circle
of Christian friends by a fire?”
C. S. Lewis