Looking Back at Friendship
I've just started reading Drew Hunter's Made for Friendship. It's a book I've been looking forward to, and just a few pages in I am already hooked. Drew's opening chapter makes that case that we have forgotten the true value and importance of friendship. In the process, he offers some incredible quotes about friendship from figures in church history. Here's a quick sampling.
From Augustine…
Two things are essential in this world—life, and friendship. Both must be prized highly, and not undervalued.
From John Newton…
I think to a feeling mind there is no temporal pleasure equal to the pleasure of friendship.
From Gregory of Nazianzus…
If anyone were to ask me, ‘What is the best thing in life?’ I would answer, ‘Friends’.
From Spurgeon…
He who would be happy here must have friends; and he who would be happy thereafter, must, above all things, find a friend in the world to come, in the person of God.
And, of course, the best, from Jesus…
No longer do I call you servants ... I have called you friends.