Friends: How Many of Us Have Them?
If you were to totally be honest, how many TRUE FRIENDS do you currently have? How many TRUE FRIENDS have you had in your lifetime? I want to encourage you to just pause for a moment, and really reflect on these questions. Now, after reflecting on your friendships, I want to ask you an even more important question……………. HAVE YOU BEEN A TRUE FRIEND? I think that most people will deny having had TRUE FRIENDS before they would admit to not being a TRUE FRIEND. It’s very easy to look at the faults in others, than it is to look at the faults in ourselves, right? My pastor stated in one of his sermons, that we need to first, determine who we, ourselves, want to be, and then we need to make wise choices in the friendships that we choose. Our friendships should help us to become who we want to be, rather, hindering who we want to be. I believe that my pastor’s words could significantly, be of help to us all.
Ultimately, who we want to be, should mirror who God needs for us to be.
For many of us, those times when we got into the most trouble in our lives, we were not alone; we were accompanied by a few of our closest homies lol. We learned very early, that birds of a feather, surely, flock together! Right now, we can laugh at such ratchet moments in time, however, we know that it wasn’t anything but God’s grace and mercy that got us out of some of those situations. I’m not sure if they were the bad influence, or we were, but I do know, that we have the power to lead each other into light, or into darkness. Just think of Ruth an Naomi. Though Naomi was Ruth’s mother-n-law, it is very evident that these two women were true friends. Ruth could have turned away from Naomi in her darkest times, but she chose to cling to Naomi, with ultimately, led to restoration, and to salvation (Jesus). Who are you clinging to? Who clings to you?
Now, that you have though greatly on TRUE FRIENDSHIP, I want to provide you with a few Biblical scriptures that can guide you as you pursue such relationships. God wants you to be able to flourish, which is why He has created relationships to be a gift to us. However, being in healthy friendships will require for us to die to our flesh, which surely, is NOT always an easy thing to do.
“A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.” Proverbs 17:17 AMP
“As iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens [and influences] another [through discussion].”
Proverbs 27:17 AMP
“He who walks [as a companion] with wise men will be wise, But the companions of [conceited, dull-witted] fools [are fools themselves and] will experience harm.” Proverbs 13:20 AMP
“The man of too many friends [chosen indiscriminately] will be broken in pieces and come to ruin, But there is a [true, loving] friend who [is reliable and] sticks closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24 AMP
“for if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and does not have another to lift him up.” Ecclesiastes 4:10 AMP
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