FRIENDSHIP

SS 2 CRS

2nd Term

FRIENDSHIP

Friendship is the relationship between two or more persons who know and like each other. There are 3 types of friendship (John 6:60-71): (1) Friendship of Utility: this exists between you and someone who is useful to you in some way. E.g. A and B are friends because each helps the other to do what he can’t do for himself. (2)Friendship of Pleasure: this exists between you and someone whose company you enjoy. These are usually ‘activity buddies’ because they usually do together that thing which they enjoy doing. (3)Friendship of the good: this is based on mutual respect and admiration. It often arises when two persons recognize that they have similar values.

Based on influence, friends can be classified into good and bad friends. A good friend is one who has a positive influence on you while a bad friend is that which has a negative influence on you. The following are biblical examples of model friendship: (a) Friendship between Jesus, Martha and Mary was cordial. (Luke 10:32-42) (b)Friendship between Jesus and Lazarus (John 11:1-44): when Lazarus died, Jesus wept out of the deep love he has for him, and this made him to raise Lazarus back to life.  (c)Friendship between Saul and David (I Sam 16:21-22; I Sam 18-19): before the incidence of Goliath, Saul loved David very much to the extent that he had to ask his father to allow David to come and stay with him in the palace. He even gave David his daughter as wife. This friendship went sour when the Israelites started praising David over Saul. It shows us that jealousy can spoil friendship. (d) Friendship between David and Jonathan: Jonathan the son of Saul also fell in love with David. Even when Saul his father had become enemy of David, Jonathan still remained faithful to David to the point that he normally created ways of escape for David wherever Saul planned to kill him and he gets to know about it.