Friendship is higher than servanthood. Servants obey their masters out of fear or a sense of duty; friends obey out of love and an internal desire to do what is good and right. Abraham was called a “friend of God” (Jam 2:23) because he obeyed God out of the belief of his heart. The disciples, and indeed all the saints, are honored as friends of Christ because they freely obey His commandments out of love. Those who have this spirit of loving obedience are open to receive and understand the revelations of the Father.
Taken from The Orthodox Study Bible
“You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”
John 15:14-15
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