"...the friend of the Bridegroom..." John 3: 29

"Goodness and purity should never be traits that attention to themselves, but should simply be magnets that draw people to Jesus Christ. If my holiness is not drawing others to Him, it is not the right kind of holiness; it is only an influence that awakens undue emotions and evil desires in people and diverts them from heading in the direction of Jesus. A person who is a beautiful saint can be a hindrance in leading people towards the Lord by presenting only what Christ has done for him, insteading of presenting Jesus Christ Himself. They will be left with this thought- "What a fine person that man is!" That is not being a true "friend of the Bridegroom"- I am increasing all the time; HE is not.

To maintain this friendship and faithfulness to the Bridegroom, we have to be more careful to have the moral and vital relationship to Him above everything else, including obedience. Sometimes, there is nothing to obey and our only task is to maintain a vital connection with Jesus Christ, seeing that nothing interferes with it. Only occasionally is it a matter of obedience. At those times- when a crisis arises- we have to find out what God's will is. Yet most of our life is not spent in trying to be consciously obedient, but in maintaining this relationship- being a "friend of the Bridegroom." Christian work can actually be a means of diverting a person's focus away from Jesus Christ. Instead of being true friends of the Bridegroom, we become amateur providences of God to someone else by only offering our human sympathy rather than His empathy and working against Him while using His weapons."

-Oswald Chambers