Your Friends, Your Future
John 15 NIV
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my
Father I have made known to you. John 15:5 NIV
Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm. Proverbs 13:20 ESV
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity. Proverbs 17:17 NIV
A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24 ESV
Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so? Amos 3:3 NIV
“Friendship is a deep oneness that develops when two people, speaking the truth in love to one another, journey together to the same horizon.” -Tim Keller
“Friends always let you in, and they never let you down.” -Tim Keller