Normal Conditions of Friendship

Once I rented a plot of land not far from our house and began to create my garden on it. I did not know how and what grows, and intuitively prepared the soil, sifting it from stones and adding compost and manure to the obtained earth. As a result, everything I planted grew. I decided not to add chemical fertilizers to the soil and not to spray my plants with anything.

Over the years I understood that garden plants have their own laws of planting, growth, and development. What suits one is not always acceptable for another. Something needs frequent watering, and something should not be watered so often.

Having once bought several blueberry bushes, I stuck them in ordinary soil and waited for a rich harvest. In the first year it brought some fruit from its reserve, and in the second year it began to wither and die, but with all its twigs it still clung to life. I understood that I was doing something wrong and decided to find out from specialists how to proceed. It turned out that this crop needs acidic soil, which should not come into contact with normal ground. I dug a deep pit, lined it with film, and poured into it what the professionals recommended, mixing everything thoroughly. As a result, the blueberry came to life and began to delight me with an annual abundant bearing of fruit.

My fruit trees also need care, pruning, and protection from ants. When I do everything necessary, I rejoice in the rich abundance of berries and fruits. And those trees that do not bear fruit, I cut down and plant others in their place.

Due to the abundant harvest in my plantings, I became famous among my neighbors as an experienced gardener who grows everything most delicious and in large quantities. And I do not consider myself such, because I do almost nothing, but only create favorable conditions for the life of plants, and they then take care of themselves.

But I noticed that various pests also like my harvest. And since I do not spray anything with anything, the "eaters" of fruits appreciated this and took note of it. God's flock must also feed on something.

And I also noticed that weeds grow everywhere and by themselves, not needing any care or concern. And the longer you don't notice them, the bigger they become. And if at the beginning of growth they could be easily pulled out and thrown away, then later they need to be dug out and much time and effort must be applied to their removal.

And I also have a greenhouse in which delicate tomatoes grow that need special care and tying. Growing them takes most of my time. But then at the appointed time the tomatoes bring so much fruit that I manage to share all this with many of my neighbors.

Relationships between people somewhat remind me of the laws of plant life. There are good people who, having fallen into an unfavorable habitat, begin to wither and spiritually die. And there are those who, like a pest, having gotten into good company, begin to destroy everything good and cultured around them. And there is not even any talk of any good fruit; one would preserve what is still alive. But since the pest is a person, he must also be cared for and given due attention. As a result, we see what we have and are surprised where the fruits are.

In love for one another there are certain laws that remain constant and firm, regardless of whether I know them or not. Where two people decide to love each other, it is necessary that these two mutually ensure that their love is love, and not a vacuum cleaner that sucks everything into itself and gives nothing back. Love for one another develops only when both friends create normal conditions for their relationship, invest their hearts in them, and ensure that no alien spirit penetrates their union. When all these conditions are mutually observed, then the fruit does not make itself wait long and begins to develop rapidly and nourish people who love each other. Also, other people manage to taste something from this friendship, and the influence of loving people spreads very far, and the fruit of their love becomes very tasty, saturating all their environment.

Knowing the taste, strength, and influence of love, Jesus commanded us to have it in our relationships, and at the end of time He wants us to sell all this in symbols of Heavenly treasures, teaching us to live in what is acquired.

Nowhere does fruit grow so beautifully as in our love for one another. We create ideal greenhouse conditions for it, where with the kindness of our hearts, mutual faith in God, unity of thoughts and spirit, we warm the tender plant of our love and protect it from destructive attacks. People from outside do not have access to the greenhouse of our love for one another, and therefore it is under the special protection of our choice to love and be tender, principled, and faithful in this love.

The enemy of the soul hates such unions and sends his pests so that through gossip, tale-bearing, ridicule, envy, and other sins they introduce distrust and suspicion into our relationships. Here one must be on guard, identifying alien fire that does not warm but burns and destroys everything good from within.

Caring for plants, I show special wisdom. I monitor the correct observance of all laws, otherwise I will not have a harvest, and everything will perish. But in love for one another, for some reason I decide that care is not needed, and the plant will somehow grow strong by itself, and then I sit on the ruins of friendship and am surprised why my friend deflated so quickly when I periodically bit him, testing his love for strength. Although he says he loves me, he no longer draws close to me, wanting to be healthy, which naturally causes my nagging and mockery of such love.

Such a spirit destroys from within the closest attachment. And one should not blame one's loving friend for this break, who with faith in you decided to build friendship, accepting everything except your open hostility to him.

Love for one another is a very delicate plant that needs an atmosphere of love from both sides. It is very sensitive to everything that can kill it, and therefore it is worth leaving all one's external experiences and falls outside the boundaries of friendly relations and not manifesting an alien spirit, wanting to test the friend's strength with it. The friend will endure, but the plant risks perishing.

Sometimes a friend may be depressed because he was crushed or he fell. This information, although sad, says that somewhere in the friend's life there are not quite good conditions for his normal life, and he does not know how to behave in such a situation. Then your fresh and optimistic view from the side will help turn all these problems of the friend for good, find a way out in choosing happiness, and continue to go together on this path, finding the road to victory.

If my friend and I do not fight for the purity and warmth of our relationship and do not cherish it, then it will soon end, and we will be surprised that suddenly the friend turned out to be not real.

The fruit of the Spirit does not grow like a weed, anywhere. It grows and bears fruit only under certain conditions that I create for it, or my friend and I create.

To love an enemy and abundantly distribute holiness and pearls to those who do not value it can be done unilaterally, but in relationships with a friend everything must be with love and special tenderness.

1. Please read Gal. 6:7; 1 Pet. 1:22; Rom. 8:14; 12:9-10,16; Prov. 14:1; 17:9,17; 18:24; 22:11; Song 7:11; Matt. 7:6,16; 13:18-23; Is. 5:21; Rev. 3:18; John 13:34-35; Gal. 5:15,22-23 in light of this topic.

2. What did you understand from this topic?

3. What other verses from the Bible came to your mind?

4. If you have a friend with whom you love each other, did you pay attention to what kind of fruit of the Spirit you have in your relationship?

5. Does love for a friend deprive me of choice in how to build relationships?

6. Is it worth loving a friend at all times?

7. What can be the difference between a mistake, foolishness, intent, and vice in a friend's behavior? Should one react to them in the same way?

8. What to do if a spirit of faultfinding and discontent has penetrated our relationship with a friend?

9. Can I with my behavior tempt a friend to a bad attitude toward me?

10. Is it worth loving one who loves you from a pure heart?

11. Can it be said that our love for one another is the beginning of what will continue for all Eternity?

12. Is love for one another work or an unbearable burden? Or what is it?

13. If I still have no friends whom I should love, should I look for them, and where to look?

14. Is the fruit of the Spirit in relationships something important, or does it not matter what grows between us?

15. Should a greenhouse plant be put outside so that it grows strong from various weather events?