Expanded excerpts from Chapter 17: I Am, My Best friend
The chapter title has two meanings. You are your best friend, and Jesus Christ, the great I Am, is your best friend. It’s easy to understand why you should be your best friend, but how can God, a deity, be your best friend? How does that even make sense? It makes sense because God is a loving God of relationship. In the beginning we enjoyed a personal relationship with Him. Then, because of Satan’s influence and our decision to disobey God, we ate the forbidden fruit, and were banished from the garden. We no longer enjoyed a personal relationship with God. Genesis 3:23 (NLT) says, “So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made.”
We remained without a personal relationship with God, until He took action and sent His one and only Son to save us. This act alone, gives us the opportunity to be back in a personal relationship with Him. He did this because He knew we could not do it on our own, and He loves us. To help us maintain a personal and loving relationship with Him, He sent the Holy Spirit to live in us. Together, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit make God available and approachable. We can have a bond, an alliance, and a friendship with God. Yes, we can literally have a best friend in Jesus. Why in the world would anyone want to miss this? Why would anyone want to ignore the Spirit and live without God? It comes down to free will. We are all free to embrace God and enjoy a personal relationship with Him, or we can reject and deny Him. To reject and deny God is to reject and deny the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. To reject and deny God is to reject His love, depriving ourselves of a friendship like no other.
As you look at all your relationships, who is your best friend? Without hesitation, who can you depend on? Who knows you best, your deepest thoughts, fears and concerns? Many followers of Christ will quickly answer with the name of Jesus. But in most cases, it’s more of a cliche. It’s an intellectual response, not heartfelt and truthful. The truth is, not many people can honestly answer with the name of Jesus. Regardless of how we answer, in John 15:13–15 (NLT), Jesus declares we are His friends by saying, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.”
Thanks to God for making His Word available, we know everything the Father told Jesus, which is everything Jesus told the disciples. We are included in this friendship if we do what He commands. When Jesus told the disciples there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends, He was telling them, He will die on the cross for them. He is telling us the same. Do you believe this Truth, God was willing to die for you? Do you believe God considers you His friend? Don’t you want to be a part of this friendship? Then you must be willing to make the effort to embrace His friendship. He’s done His part, are you doing yours?
Now back to the question, who is your best friend? Did you name yourself? Can you depend on yourself? Who do you wake up with every day? Who do you spend every waking moment with? Who is the last person you spend time with before going to sleep? Besides God, who knows you deep within the recesses of your mind and heart? Who knows how you really feel about everything? When you look back on your life, how have you treated yourself? How have you done with the choices you’ve made and the paths you’ve taken? Have you taken good care of yourself? Have you acted in your own best interest? Even if you have a best friend in God, you must also be your own best friend. To be your own best friend, you must always be able to depend on yourself and have your best interest at heart. Stop blaming everyone else for your shortcomings. Stop waiting on everyone else to motivate you. Motivate yourself. Take more of an interest in improving yourself. Read and study the Bible more. Spend more time with God to become more spiritually stimulated and aware. Make better choices. Eat better. Become more physically active. Exercise to become a stronger vessel for God to use. A stronger vessel means being better equipped physically, emotionally, and spiritually. You will be more successful at fighting and winning spiritual battles. Then, as you depend on the strength of the Holy Spirit, you become more confident. God will help you become the person He created you to be.
Have you noticed, when it comes to offering advice to those we care about, the advice is consistently insightful and helpful? Oh, we know what to tell other people. But when it comes to following our own advice, we ignore it. We’ll tell someone else to not put off going to the doctor, but we’ll put off going. We’ll encourage others to exercise and eat right, but we won’t exercise and eat right. Why do we have so much trouble self-motivating? We’re listening to the whispers and the lies of the devil who’s telling us we can’t do it, and we’re not worthy. We allow Satan to keep us from the plans God has for us. We need to listen to the Spirit of God who is telling us we can do it, and we are worthy. To achieve what we desire for ourselves, we need to use the strength of the Spirit to help us identify and achieve our goals.
What stops you from stepping in a new direction? Are you focusing too much on the big picture? Does the big picture appear to be overwhelming and unachievable? Stop focusing on the big picture and long-term goals, and start focusing on short-term goals. They’re not as overwhelming. If you’re unhealthy because of what you eat, start making the effort to eat healthier. Don’t drastically change everything in a day. Start by cutting down on portion size. Eat less, more frequently. Eat because you need to, not because you want to. Stop eating dinner so late at night. If you have a habit of late night snacking, instead of eating unhealthy sugary snacks, eat healthier snacks like fruit and nuts. At first, cut down on late night snacking, then slowly try to eliminate it. If you drink six sugary drinks a day, start by cutting it to five, then four, and so on. If you’re not used to walking, don’t walk a mile, start with walking short distances. If you’re a smoker, don’t light up another one because it’s a habit, put it off until you’re struggling and can’t put it off any longer. Then, smoke only half. If you drink alcohol, think about why and how much you drink. Cut down on the frequency and the amount you consume. Do you drink to reduce stress? Exercise also reduces stress. Start with light exercise. Don’t overdo it. Just make the effort to do better. Whatever it is you need to do, start today. Stop putting it off. No matter how small the steps appear, it’s the small steps that slowly but surely gets you there. You are responsible for your vessel, so start taking responsibility. Stop looking to everyone else to make you happy, make yourself happy. If you have health concerns, your first step should be to contact your doctor’s office. Let them know you want to start making changes. They will be excited for you. They will gladly give you advice on how you should safely pursue a healthier and better you. As you focus on the changes that will make you better, remember, you are in the midst of spiritual battle. Satan is always trying to convince you, you’re not worthy. As you try to keep yourself on track, Satan will try to influence you into thinking, you can’t do it, you’re not able. He’ll tell you that you’ll fail. He’ll influence you to stop trying. After you achieve your goals for a while, if you slip a little, Satan will try to influence you to give up. He’ll walk you right back into the darkness where you started. Instead, if you slip one day, use the strength of the Spirit to get back up again. God will help you regain your confidence through the strength of the Holy Spirit. You have the power of God on your side. When Satan is hitting you with an onslaught of the fiery arrows, pounding you with negativity, you have the knowledge that God is more powerful than Satan. Through God’s strength, you can achieve anything. Philippians 4:13 (NLT) says, “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”