The Bruises of Friends

"I ran the risk
Of being intimate with my brokenness.
I was given a gift of hope and a thousand finger prints
On the surfaces of who I am." -Ryan O'Neal

They say the bruises of friends can be trusted, but I don't know what that means. Who truly bruises you for good? We bruise each other with our selfishness and pride, with our careless words and pinpointed daggers because we know each other's weaknesses. We know each other's weaknesses, and we would use them against one another.

We would never trust the bruises of friends. We'd rather lose faith in the heart of the one who loves us than acknowledge the truth. Who wants to be told they're wrong? We don't need to hear those words. We don't need to take those bruises. There are others out there who do not judge, who will not question or challenge, who will let us be comfortable in our lives, with our decisions.

People are dispensable, or at least that's what they say, but a love that loves regardless of our wrongs, our mistakes is greater than a love that loves and sees no wrongs. A heart of love will bruise you but be there to bind you up. Love will not expose your nakedness to the world but quietly clothe the ugliness and look on you the same.

The bruises of friends can be trusted because it means they aren't afraid of being intimate with your brokenness. They aren't afraid to reach down and say, "You don't repulse me." Those are the friends who have been given God's eyes to see us with. They see us and who we can be. They love us enough to want better for us than we, at times, want for ourselves. And that kind of love is without price.

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I'm temporarily forgetting about my blog schedule because it's stressing me out. Plus, one of my brothers was home for a week, and I didn't have much extra time. 

Also, this subject is something I've been thinking about for a bit. I wrote it all down, and then I found this more in-depth article just yesterday (funny how God seems to send things your way at the perfect time), and I really recommend reading it. Some of the things stated are similar to what I said here, but I would say it has a stronger Biblical center.