All About GOD - Growing Relationships with Jesus and Others
What's a friend?
An old proverb states that " Friends are those who relate so closely to each other that when one cries the others tastes salt" .
When I first came across this proverb I was confused as to what it could possibly mean. Then it occurred to me , as it should to anyone who is a friend or parent.
When a child is hurt while playing roughly or being clumsy or just had their feelings hurt. they will come to us wanting to be held and comforted. They want someone to ' make it all better'. Then , inevitably , as we are consoling and hugging them we kiss their tear stained faces to try to help calm them down. Then when we kiss their little cheeks, especially when the tears are really flowing, we taste the salt of their tears. Literally the tears have a salty taste to them.
As I realized this the truth and beauty of this proverb occurred to me for several reasons;
1) They will not come to us if they don't believe that they receive from us comfort and compassion in their
time of trouble.
2) We will never tast the 'salt of their tears' if we don't have a love and compassion for them. A true desire to
ease their pain.
3) There is such a wonderful bonding experience when they have come seeking comfort and received it in
abundance.
4) The joy a parent or friend ( or both ) feels when they know that they helped bring sufficient comfort to
make the ' injury ' at least easier to bear , if not ' all better'.
This is the type of comfort, compassion and love that we have received , and still do , from our heavenly Father
when things go wrong or tradegy strikes , even when it's our own fault.
We have to sometimes tell them, or be told ourselves, that this pain came about because they , or we, were doing something that they weren't supposed to be doing But even as we tell , or are told , that our arms are around them comforting them in their suffering. We are all much more receptive to discipline when we ' know' that compassion is the motivating factor.
I realize that there are times when we need to show what some call ' tough love' , but that needs to be the ' last resort' and not the ' first response'. James 6:1-2 - says " If a brother is overtaken in a fault you who are spiritual restore him in a spirit of meekness and consider yourselves lest you also be tempted. Bear you one anothers burdens and so fullfill the law of Christ."
Many , many times Jesus responded to the needs of others with compassion:
The woman caught in adultery.
The leper who came to Him asking to be made clean
The centurian whose daughter was dying
The widow of Nain,
The countless others from the time of His earthly ministry to this very moment.
I believe that it would be pleasing to God if we all began, or continue to, show this compassion towards friends and others , especially of the household of faith.
Jesus said ' freely you have received, freely give.'
If we are striving to be ' macho' or 'all-knowing' or someone that says ' no one bothers me' ' then, in my opinion only , there is not much use for us in the kingdom of God.
There are many scriptures that relate to this topic but I haven't included them because , I believe that most of us know them already.
May God bless us all as we continue , or begin , to be the friends that are willing to ' taste the salt of another's tears'.
When I first came across this proverb I was confused as to what it could possibly mean. Then it occurred to me , as it should to anyone who is a friend or parent.
When a child is hurt while playing roughly or being clumsy or just had their feelings hurt. they will come to us wanting to be held and comforted. They want someone to ' make it all better'. Then , inevitably , as we are consoling and hugging them we kiss their tear stained faces to try to help calm them down. Then when we kiss their little cheeks, especially when the tears are really flowing, we taste the salt of their tears. Literally the tears have a salty taste to them.
As I realized this the truth and beauty of this proverb occurred to me for several reasons;
1) They will not come to us if they don't believe that they receive from us comfort and compassion in their
time of trouble.
2) We will never tast the 'salt of their tears' if we don't have a love and compassion for them. A true desire to
ease their pain.
3) There is such a wonderful bonding experience when they have come seeking comfort and received it in
abundance.
4) The joy a parent or friend ( or both ) feels when they know that they helped bring sufficient comfort to
make the ' injury ' at least easier to bear , if not ' all better'.
This is the type of comfort, compassion and love that we have received , and still do , from our heavenly Father
when things go wrong or tradegy strikes , even when it's our own fault.
We have to sometimes tell them, or be told ourselves, that this pain came about because they , or we, were doing something that they weren't supposed to be doing But even as we tell , or are told , that our arms are around them comforting them in their suffering. We are all much more receptive to discipline when we ' know' that compassion is the motivating factor.
I realize that there are times when we need to show what some call ' tough love' , but that needs to be the ' last resort' and not the ' first response'. James 6:1-2 - says " If a brother is overtaken in a fault you who are spiritual restore him in a spirit of meekness and consider yourselves lest you also be tempted. Bear you one anothers burdens and so fullfill the law of Christ."
Many , many times Jesus responded to the needs of others with compassion:
The woman caught in adultery.
The leper who came to Him asking to be made clean
The centurian whose daughter was dying
The widow of Nain,
The countless others from the time of His earthly ministry to this very moment.
I believe that it would be pleasing to God if we all began, or continue to, show this compassion towards friends and others , especially of the household of faith.
Jesus said ' freely you have received, freely give.'
If we are striving to be ' macho' or 'all-knowing' or someone that says ' no one bothers me' ' then, in my opinion only , there is not much use for us in the kingdom of God.
There are many scriptures that relate to this topic but I haven't included them because , I believe that most of us know them already.
May God bless us all as we continue , or begin , to be the friends that are willing to ' taste the salt of another's tears'.
Comment
-
Comment by Charles Burwell on December 10, 2009 at 11:31am -
Dear Michelle
Please feel free to share this with anyone you think may benefit from it. That was my purpose in putting it here.
God bless you.
-
Comment by Michelle Thompson on December 10, 2009 at 10:10am - Do you mind if I share this with others?
-
Comment by Michelle Thompson on December 10, 2009 at 10:07am
-
Hi Charles,
This is a great post. Thanks for sharing! May God continually bless you as you serve Him and minister to others on his behalf.
What a friend we have in Jesus!
-
Comment by felixpadua on July 22, 2009 at 5:38pm - thank you again charles.
-
Comment by Bev on July 15, 2009 at 8:23am -
Hi Charles, this is a great post as it reminds me that in striving daily to be what God wants me to be I must strive to be like Christ. Doesn't always come easy but I am realizing more and more each day how very vital it is to me as a Christian. In striving to be like Him the things you mention above tend to fall into place.
God bless you and cause you to know His love in wonderous ways,
Bev
-
Comment by James Lindquist on July 15, 2009 at 2:37am -
Good!! One way it was told to me is that a friend is the heart that is closest to yours. Never forgot that. What a friend we have in Jesus!!
GBY
-
Comment by Theresa on July 13, 2009 at 6:26pm -
Hey Charles,
Jesus said ' freely you have received, freely give.'. Amen!
Thanks for sharing this word and God bless you!
-
Comment by LT on July 13, 2009 at 5:31pm -
Hey Charles,
Point well taken. Thanks for sharing this.
Lord Bless,
LT
About
The Good News
© 2009 Created by AllAboutGOD.com on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
You need to be a member of All About GOD to add comments!
Join this Ning Network