Friends: Friendship is a natural desire for most people. To share at least a part of your life with some people who love and care about you is an incredible blessing. Virtually, everything said about friendship in the Bible is found in Proverbs.
Today, things like Facebook and its superficial understanding of friends skews what true friendship is. How does God’s word describe it? Friends have four qualities:
1. Loyalty (15:24). A true friend is there with and for you through every type of circumstance. They rejoice with you when you experience happiness and success. They help you when you need a hand. They come along side when you are hurting. They rejoice with you when you rejoice and weep with you when you weep (Romans 12:15).
2. Love (17:17). A true friend loves you under all circumstances. They are not a fair-weather friend, but are actually at their best when times are tough.
3. Is willing to lovingly confront if necessary (27:5-6). A true friend is willing to hurt us a bit in order to help us. Don’t despise the wounds of a friend – they are evidence of true love. Route 66 32
4. Improve us (27:9, 17). We all need people (friends) in our lives who sharpen us – who help us to be better people. Look for this quality in a friend. Stay away from those who pull us from the Lord, who corrupt us, whose sinful habits we are absorbing. We will never find a perfect friend but we should look for those who improve us, and who in turn we can improve as well.
