Daily Devotional for November 22, 2017
Best Friends
“Mom, it’s going to be so great having Piper live right across the street!” Ava told her mother as she got ready to go help her best friend’s family move things into their new house. “Now we can sit together on the school bus and go to each other’s houses all the time. And pizza is her favorite food, just like mine!”
Mom smiled as she took a pizza out of the oven. “It’s nice that you and Piper have so much in common.”
Ava nodded. “We’re going to do everything together.”
The next day, Ava came storming into the house. “Piper isn’t my best friend anymore,” she said. “I went over to see if she could play and found out she was off playing tennis with Lucy.”
“Oh, Ava,” said Mom. “It’s nice that you two are friends, but you need other friends too. Lucy and Piper like tennis, and you don’t.”
“I don’t care,” said Ava. “Best friends always stick together!”
At dinner that evening, Ava was surprised to see spaghetti on her parents’ plates and pizza from the day before on her own. “Where’s my spaghetti?” she asked.
“Since pizza is your favorite food, I decided you could have it for every meal,” Mom told her.
Dad nodded. “Mom says you can even have it for breakfast every day. Isn’t that great?”
“I don’t want pizza all the time,” Ava said. “I like other things too.” She frowned. “Why are you doing this?”
Mom smiled. “Well, I was hoping it would help you see that variety is a good thing—not only in meals but also in friendships. Both you and Piper should have other friends.”
“Mom’s right, Ava,” said Dad. “Even Jesus didn’t spend all His time with just one person. The Bible tells us to love our friends, but the way you’ve been treating Piper isn’t very loving at all—it’s selfish. Piper needs the freedom to have more than just one friend, and you do too.”
“I guess I didn’t think about it that way,” Ava said thoughtfully. “Maybe I’ll invite Cassie over later, if that’s okay.”
“That’s fine,” said Mom. “But first you need to eat some spaghetti!” – Ruth McQuilkin
How about you?
Do you get jealous if your best friend has other friends? It’s fine to have a friend you have a lot in common with and want to spend time with them, but both of you need to spend time with other friends too. The mark of real friendship is love for one another. Pray for your friends, love them, and make Jesus your best friend of all.
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