Rev. A.J. Ogden

I really believe most of us have it all wrong, or up side down on having friends. Somehow we seem to think that if we excel in some kind of sports, or become a star player, people will notice us, like us, and become our friends. But except for a few exceptions, it does not work that way! When you fade or get older or retire, they kind of forget you. I think we try to make them notice us when we need to notice them, love them, and reach out to them to help them with their burdens!

Proverbs 18:24 tells us, “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” So in order to have friends, we must make friends by caring less for self and more about their needs and heart breaks.

I don’t remember who wrote the following lines, but they really express it well:

“I went out to find a friend one day,

And could not find one anywhere.

Then I went out to be a friend,

And friends were everywhere.”

So having friends is not all about making people think we are great. We are not, and that means we are full of false pride. Just go find them in their troubles and help them! When we do that, they will be our friends. So if we want friends, just go out and make some. There are hurting people all around you who need your love.

Shortly after coming home from World War II, I met a little boy on the street who was crying his little heart out because he had lost a penny. I asked him what was wrong and he said he had a penny to get a stick of peppermint candy and now I’ve lost it! I said, “Here are several copper pennies, go buy yourself several sticks.” Oh what joy and appreciation he expressed. I made a life time friend with a little stick of peppermint.