One of the most wonderful truths of the Christian life is the fellowship of the Spirit. Paul puts it forth so vividly in his salutation in the final verse of 2 Corinthians.
“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
In the discussion on friendship love in his book The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis talked about three close friends, Jack, Charles and Ronald, who met together every week. They were so close until Charles died. And Jack said, he thought he might be closer to Ronald now that he was not sharing him with Charles. But it did not work that way. Instead he discovered that he no longer had as much of Ronald because he did not have characteristics in Ronald’s personality that were brought out by Charles. He would never again join in Ronald’s reaction to a typically “Charles joke.”
Most of us have experienced that to some extent in the church. I worked together with Jim Gantenbein for 22 years. We got along wonderfully even though we have radically different personalities. In fact a great part of the joy of our friendship came from our differences. Again and again I delighted as the Spirit of God worked in Jim so differently than He works in me. But more than that. I drew closer to God through my friendship with Jim. Our bond in Jesus Christ grows as He binds us together with other believers.
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