“Greater love has no one than this – that he lay down his life for his friends.”   John 15:13

Sgt. Meyer believed he was going to die, but he did it anyway. Five times in a six-hour period he charged into the teeth of enemy Afghan gunfire to rescue thirty wounded or fallen comrades. When it was over, Meyer did not die, and for selflessly putting his life on the line for his buddies in that 2009 gun battle, he received the US Military’s most prestigious award—the Medal of Honor.

Sadly, many people think the test of true friendship is who you have a good time with. Those who are wise know the true test is who is still there when the good times stop. The greatest test of true friendship is when a friend is willing to stand with you even at the risk of his own life. That is extreme friendship!

In this technological age of iPods, iPads, and iPhones, FaceBook, Twitter, and Google, friendship resembles more a self-serving relationship of convenience. The idea of a lay-down-your-life kind of extreme friendship is rare today, but one that most people crave. Today’s grandparents have an opportunity to model this kind of friendship, not by giving our grandchildren stuff, but by going the extra mile to show them how cherished they are as a person made in God’s image. Grandparents are in a position promote a welcome contrast to the cyberspace relationships of today.

We have no better example of this extreme friendship than Jesus, who laid down his life for us. Nehemiah put out the challenge to “Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your homes (and I might add, your grandchildren).” Modeling authentic friendship will expose self-serving, fickle and short-lived relationships for what they are. It can turn all our relationships, including marriages, into selfless, compassionate and enduring reflections of Christ’s love. Let’s show the world that true friendship is NOT what’s in it for us, but what we can do for others, even if it costs us our life. Let us hold resolutely to what is true, own up to our own failures, and point our grandchildren to a better way where Christ is our extreme model.

Why not call or write your grandchildren today and tell them how much they mean to you? Remind them that you are praying for them, and that they can count on you being there for them at any time—like an extreme friend would do.

GRANDPAUSE: “A friend is one who walks in when others walk out” -Walter Winchell