Number two on the list:
Say no to one-way friendships.I have a ways to go before I hit the big 3-0, but I hope this never makes the list of life lessons I've learned. Why? Because I think it's totally inconsistent with the faith we claim to profess.
Jesus left us with the commandment "Love one another as I have loved you." How then could we dare sever the ties of one-way relationships? There was no more lop-sided love than God's love for us. He stepped down from the highest throne in heaven to dwell amongst the lowest on earth. He washed the feet of the one who would betray him with a kiss. He looked with love on the one that would deny him thrice before the end of night. He gave his life for the very ones who nailed him to a tree.
There was and is no greater love than this. Few things stir our hearts as unrequited love does, because we see in the lover the purest of loves. It exists not for the merits of or due to expectation of anything from the beloved. It exists simply for the sake of the beloved. To bring joy to the beloved. Yes, of course love hopes for mutual affection. But true love endures in spite of continued indifference or even outright rejection. It "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
So, no, do not say no to one-way friendships. Say no to conditional friendship. Love is not quid pro quo.
"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them."-Jesus
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