Practical Friendship

How does the gospel change the way you love someone?

Augustine, perhaps better than any other theologian, captures the essence of friendship in a practical, everyday manner in his work, Confessions:

To make conversation, to share a joke, to perform mutual acts of kindness, to read together well-written books, to share in trifling and in serious matters, to disagree though without animosity—just as a person debates with himself—and in the very rarity of disagreement to find the salt of normal harmony, to teach each other something or to learn from one another, to long with impatience for those absent, to welcome them with gladness on their arrival.

For Augustine, loving friendship isn’t just a feeling, but leads to concrete expressions of love: “These and other signs come from the heart of those who love and are loved and are expressed through the mouth, through the tongue, through the eyes, and a thousand gestures of delight, acting as fuel to set our minds on fire.” He recognizes the virtues of friendship to create unity as well: “Human friendship is also a nest of love and gentleness because of the unity it brings about between many souls.”

Who can you be a friend to today?

How can you express God’s love to someone near to you?