How to Be a Friend of God
Being a friend of God is not as difficult as it may seem. It involves a simple matter of respect. You do not obey one whom you do not respect.
If you did not respect your earthly father, you did not obey him. If, however, he punished you for disobeying him, you would, in turn, respect and obey him.
In the same manner, to obey God is to serve God. To serve God is to love God, and to love God is to serve our neighbor first, before self (1 Cor. 10:24). Even Jesus Christ, our example, did not live to serve Himself, but others (Rom. 15:3). He came to show us how to be servants of God, by being servants of others (Matt. 20:26-28; Phil. 2:5-7). He taught us to serve God by serving the sick, the blind, the lame, the widow in distress; by visiting or caring for orphans; by giving to those who ask things of us; and by doing many such acts of righteousness for God and His glory (James 1:27). These are ways we produce fruits of righteousness for God.
God’s Will is righteousness, and when we perform righteousness, we are doing the Will of God on this earth as it is being done in heaven. If the Father in heaven is continually doing righteousness, which He is, and Jesus Christ constantly performed good deeds to be pleasing to the Father when He was here on earth, how much more should we strive to do good deeds for God (John 4:34; 5:30, 34; 6:63; 8:29; 12:47, 50)? We do this by practicing righteousness daily, to please Him in every way, in order to imitate and obey Him (Eph. 5:1).
Once we are aware that God rewards righteousness, and punishes wickedness, on a daily basis like a loving father, we know that we reap what we sow (Gal. 6:7). So if all we sow is righteousness, then we will reap God’s blessings each day!