F-R-I-E-N-D-S-H-I-P

"friend" is such a relative term. what does it mean to be one's "friend" or especially "best friend" i mean we say it as if we one have one and yet we will say this is "one of my best friends" implying there are several. what is the criteria to be ones friend? does it mean you confide in that person or simply spend time with them? does it mean you enjoy their company as much as they enjoy yours or can friendship be one-sided? can you be friends with a person you barely know or not friends with someone you know quite well? do you truly get to define your own guidlines for your friendships or are there certain overarching themes that must be present in all friendships? i guess i just wonder how we define such a lucid term- everyone knows what it means and yet do we? i challenge that most of us have no idea what it means to be a friend, me included, i may go so far as to say most of us call friends those whom we do not treat as friends. not that friendship is based wholly on action but there is a certain amount of action required in anything you claim. faith without works is dead is it not? 1 john says that true love is this that we lay down our life for our friend....you may say sure you'd die for your friend but would you really? if it was annonymous, if there was no audience, if it was based on your heart attitude, would you give up your LIFE for a friend? and sometimes that doesn't mean death, giving up your life does not simply mean your physical life, doesn't mean you have no breath in your body but there are a lot of things in our lives that we would not sacrifice for a friend (dont' even get me started on sacrificing for our Lord) would you give up your job? would you give up your time? would you give up your health? your comfort? your riches? would you give up your dignity? your pride? would you give up your music collection? your video games or movies? if a friend was in need and that's what it took would you do so or would you count on another to do it? would you say "well that's not my responsibility." if a friend made poor decisions and got themselves into a bad situation would you be there to pull them out or would you blame them for their shortcomings? would you give up the things that you hold so dear- your possesions, THINGS,(not even a life) for a person?
can you call these people friends? if you are not willing to offer them anything, not willing to sacrifice i would say that you can not- i am guilty of the same, there are many people that i don't honestly think i would give anything up for and yet i will call them my friends....is that the worst sin, perhaps not, but i submit that it is a terrible lie we all tell ourselves. and then to say something along the lines of "Jesus is my best friend"....is he really? sure you would die-literally- for him but would you sacrifice your image? would you stand up for something against the face of adversary? would you actually dedicate time and resources to the one that SAVED YOUR LIFE? or do you only claim to...
this sounds like a rant but i am the guiltiest, i can not stand before God or man and say that i have not done this exact thing, continue to do it, to say things i don't mean, continue to run my mouth and claim all of these things that i know make me sounds like super christian when in reality if it comes down to heart issue i can't say that i have it, i don't know if i have what it takes to say that i am truly a friend of Jesus, to say that i would say i believe in Him at the end of a gun is all so simply but it's the daily living part that gets me. it's not the ultimate sacrifice that is tough y'all, it's the day in day out trial and error kind of life that we must lead in order to have friendships that's the issue....

changedfish- who are your friends?