January 25

No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have learned from My Father I have made known to you. — John 15:15 BSB

One of the marks of a noble character is open-heartedness. Jesus described the privilege of friendship with Him as sharing everything He had learned from His Father with His friends. This means that deep, trusting confidence is the essence of true friendship. The highest form of friendship is when two souls are so closely united that nothing is hidden between them.

A story is told of two families who lived next door to each other. Over time, a warm friendship developed, and soon the fence between their backyards was taken down. The children of both families played freely between the two yards, as if they were one. True friendship breaks down the barriers between lives.

A secretive person, however, can never be a true friend. If someone is afraid to share what they know, what they’ve done, or what they plan to do, they limit the depth of the friendship. Secretiveness narrows and confines life, like living in a closed cell. It robs a person of the blessings they could share with others and of the joy they might receive from others. A person who lives this way has not yet learned the meaning of the open-hearted friendship Jesus offers, which He calls us to extend to others.