A Life-Giving Friend

April 29, 2025

From Pastor Joseph Wamack

I have been blessed to have “friends for a lifetime.” I have 4 lifelong friends I have known for over 55 years. Two of them, Korby and John, I have known since 4th grade in Columbus Ohio. The other two, Greg and Mike, joined us three in 7th grade. At differing times, in my single days, I was roommates with most of them. John was the best man at my wedding. I did Korby’s mother’s funeral. We have had reunions and get-togethers. We are truly a part of each other’s lives.

It is a good feeling to have friends who have known me for so long. There is something about friends who have experienced life with you, gone high and low, the good, the bad and the ugly. We had our times of not getting along, of being immature and stupid together, of not being able to express ourselves and resorting to name calling, the silent treatment and talking behind each other’s backs. But through it all, over 55 years, they have been there for me. They even remained friends with me after I accepted Christ and “became religious”. No one knows me like they do. There really is nothing like a good friend, or in this case, good friends.

Friendship, the bond one can form with others, is one of the core aspects of a healthy life. As I look back at my life, it is the people in my life who have made many of the times memorable and worth living. It is not just the events of my life, but the people who went through the events with me which made them memorable.

How are you in the friend department? Do you have people like that around you? I find, as I get older, that friendships are harder to form. I have many acquaintances, Facebook friends and Instagram followers. I have pastored for over 35 years so lots of folks know me and do genuinely care for me. But I am talking about a deep bond of support, caring and affection. Not “hi, how are you?” but people who know you, care for you and will protect you. People around whom the masks can come off.

I so much love the verses (John 15:13-15) where Jesus says, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. 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.”

I am thankful for a Friend like Jesus, a life-giving Friend, and pray I can be, through God’s grace, a friend like that to others. May it be so for you today also!