Wednesday, February 26, 2014

True Friends

As iron sharpens iron,
    so one person sharpens another.  Proverbs 27:17

I’ve gotten to know a new friend lately.  The funny thing is that we did not come together over a bunch of things that we had in common although we did (ex. Both devout Christians).  The bond grew out of a dispute where there might have been a difference or disagreement.  However, it was from their handling of our differences that let me know some of the true nature of their character.  Many times we want people that agree with us as friends, and those who disagree are not.  What I have grown to believe is that really good friends do not always take your side.  In public, they stand with you, but at an appropriate time, they will openly disagree with you if you either have gone astray or done something that does not sound right.  They may even use your own examples to support their differing opinion.  Those are the people who I consider my best friends.

True friends are people God sends to protect us.  We all need people around us to support our life.  Some people will say things you want to hear just to be around you, and others will disagree just to spite you.  Godly friends want the best for you no matter what.  To ensure that, they will provide insight on different ways of looking at a situation.  To do so, they will sometimes disagree with us not to discourage but instead to encourage success of our walk of faith.  This is how indeed iron sharpens iron.


Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friend.” (John 15:13)  Jesus put such a high value on friendship realizing that with the right circle of friends, one will be steady on the righteous path.  This is not to say all of our friends should be Christian.  In fact, inviting a good person unaware of our awesome God into your Christian circle is a righteous thing to do.  So, can your friends be totally honest with you?  How can you be supportive of your friends and yet bold enough to share the hard truth?  My prayer is that we can take notes from Jesus and be true friends.

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