I just received an email from a dear friend–yes, it was a forwarded email, and though I don’t usually adore forwarded emails, this one was quite good. It was a short devotional that dealt primarily with how crafty we are at justifying our own sins while pointing out the horror of others’ sins.
But that’s not my point.
I was the only person in the address list at the top of the email, and my friend’s first sentence was this: “I had to share this with someone and you’re the only one I could who would read it and not take it personally.”
Wow. That really hit me. So much so, I reread it a couple of times before I read on. I think it’s one of the best compliments I’ve ever received. And it made me realize that, if she truly believes that she can trust me with difficult truths that mean something to her, there is likely very little in her heart that she will hold back from me. (I’m not basing this solely on this one sentence; our friendship is probably the most open one that I have ever had.)
Of course, after the glow of the compliment began to wane, I was hit with a huge sense of responsibility to her. She didn’t just forward this devotional because it was well-written. She forwarded it because it hit her in a deeply personal way, which she went on to share with me. I felt as if she had told me to hold out my hands, and she’d placed her most fragile, delicate treasures in my open palms.
If she is willing to entrust those treasures to me, I need to be certain that she never regrets it.
A beautiful picture of true friendship!
Having read some of your recent entries, I am prompted to say they have a certain goodness to them which is increasingly rare to find.
God Bless! and keep writing like this.