Devotion #5

Jesus Answers Your
Fears

By Jon Walker

“Be friendly with
everyone. Don’t be proud and feel that you are smarter than others.
Make friends with ordinary people.” (Romans 12:16 CEV)

When we’re in Christian
community, we do a lot of things right, but we still have a lot to learn
about being “friendly with everyone.” (Romans 12:16) Many of us,
particularly the guys, are not very good at developing deep, deep
friendships.

But that shouldn’t
discourage us – because we “can do all things through Christ.”
As believers, we can be eternal optimists, and our relationship with
Christ provides us with tremendous potential for developing authentic,
transparent friendships.

The fear in all this
is that, in order to truly know other people, I must be willing to be
known, allowing others to get close enough to see the real me. And that
sounds a little scary, doesn’t it? What if there are parts of me that
I’m not proud of or need a lot of work?

These fears are common
to anyone, but Jesus is the answer to your fears. Did you hear that?
Jesus doesn’t just provide the answers for your fears – Jesus
is the answer to your fears.

Whether these deeper
relationships are with other believers who strengthen us in our faith,
or with unchurched people God wants to love through you, keep two things
in mind:

First, Jesus invites
you to know him intimately. Jesus isn’t afraid of deep relationships.
In fact, he went to the cross to ensure you could be “accepted in
the Beloved” (Eph. 1:6), no matter what you’ve done or no matter
how far you need to come.

Second, your intimate
friendship with Jesus will help others see that it’s not so scary
to know and be known. A godly community emerges when we observe,
practice, and model transparent, authentic, no-strings-attached relationships.

So what?

· You have to take
a risk – “Being known” by others means risk. Every time you
reach out to another person in friendship, you risk being rejected or
misunderstood. The risk may be even higher with non-believers because
of the difference in worldviews and values.

· You can’t do
it alone – Your friendship with Jesus gives you the strength you
need to risk building friendships with others. For that matter, your
friends need Jesus’ strength to develop a deep relationship with
you!

· You need to start
now – If we wait until our lives are cleaned up before we develop
deep Christian friendships, then it will never happen. Growing up in
Christ, and maturing as a believer, are lifelong pursuits and require
a deeply loving, committed community.

· Think about it
– Are there barriers that keep you from building deeper friendships?
Who are the people God wants you to reach out to in friendship?