“There can be no friendship between people of opposing moral views” (St Ambrose).
True friendship is based on common values, and these must be in accordance with the truth. Otherwise it would be a kind of comradeship. Friendship is destroyed when one of the friends leaves the common ground. This is especially important in the case of moral values. In friendship one strengthens and supports the other in the common vision of truth and shares the same principles, so such a relationship cannot survive if moral convictions diverge. This is a debt to truth!
This can be seen in our relationship with God. Friendship with Him can only unfold if we live according to His will. As long as this is not the case, God will continue to seek us with His fatherly love and call us to repentance. But friendship with Him can only come about when we have awakened to the truth and live in it. Jesus makes it clear:
“You are my friends if you do what I command you (…). I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” (Jn 15:14, 15b).
In fact, it can happen that after having undergone conversion, and when the commandments and the Will of God have become binding on us, we find it necessary to leave behind certain relationships that we had previously established, if they endanger the new path that we have embarked upon and cannot be reconciled with it. Such a break may be painful, but it is inevitable. However, there is always the possibility of praying for the other person and interceding with the Lord for the conditions on which a true friendship can be built. It could then become very deep.