There's something special about friendship.

You don't get to choose your relatives or where you were born or under what circumstances—but you get to choose your friends. Sometimes we become friends with the most unlikely candidates. Other times, we meet someone and feel like we've known them forever. It's really kind of magical.

Some of us are blessed to have friendships that truly last a lifetime. I met my best friend in college thirteen years ago and we have been close ever since. Through all of life's seasons and changes, our friendship has remained steady and now feels like a lifelong sisterhood. I truly thank God for bringing her into my life.

But for most of us, some of our dearest friendships don't continue with us as we enter new seasons of life and growth. People move, get married, have children, join new churches and make other life-altering decisions. Whatever the reason, it seems increasingly difficult to make and keep our friendships as we get older. We invest so much time and energy into our friendships and can feel a deep sense of loss when those people no longer hold the same sacred place in our lives.

Our identities can become tied to our friends so much that, once they're gone, it's difficult to remember who we are without them.

This new friendship reality has been difficult for me to accept over the last few years. I wasn't prepared for how life's seasons would change or end my friendships. Now that I've come to realize how many of these relationships only last for a season, I've found that it's more important than ever to have a firm identity in a never-changing Christ. I know that my worth is not determined by the abundance of friendships in my life but by the abundance of Christ's love for me.

I once heard a pastor say, "Christ is the light at the end of your dark tunnel. And he's not going anywhere. Others may leave, but he will stay." No matter where you find yourself in life's journey, Jesus is the friend that never leaves.

If you're grieving the loss of friendship today, let yourself be comforted and encouraged with the following verses:

John 15:15 (GNT)

I do not call you servants any longer, because servants do not know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from My Father.

Proverbs 18:24 (GNT)

Some friendships do not last, but some friends are more loyal than brothers.

Hebrews 13:5b (GNT)

For God has said, 'I will never leave you; I will never abandon you.'

Malachi 3:6a (GNT)

I am the Lord, and I do not change.