No one wants to get hurt. Often times we can go through life closing ourselves off from the world and those around us just to avoid difficult conversations. It seems easier to keep sin secret than open up to a friend and be accountable. It is easy to skip awkward conversations and let hurt feelings slide. However, in the long run when we become isolated we become dangerously susceptible to bad decisions. If you refuse to let a friend wound you from time to time with inconvenient truths, the enemy will wound you, and he strikes to kill.
Wounds from a friend can be trusted
A friend once told me about a fable she learned in class by Arthur Schopenhauer about animals residing in terribly cold climates. Their only chance of survival is to gather together and share body heat, or they will freeze to death. Here’s the kicker, the animals are porcupines. They physically can’t be close to each other and not get hurt. The closer they get the more likely they are to be poked and prodded; and as the likelihood of pain increases so does the likelihood of life.
Sometimes I feel like I would rather die than have to get close enough to other people to be hurt. It will hurt to live closely alongside other humans. It will hurt because we are all sinful and we all make mistakes, but I truly believe it is the only way to survive.
I am thankful Jesus came close
John 15:12-15 tells us to love as Christ has loved us. If Jesus had kept the world at an arms distance he probably could have avoided some of the pain He suffered on the cross. But He didn’t, He laid down his life for his “friends.” I hope you have people in your life you love so dearly you are willing to have hard conversations with them. I hope that you are willing to lay down your desires and your hopes and be poked and prodded for the sake of spiritual growth.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-11 - Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?
