I understand this is a risk

"Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses."

Proverbs 27:5-6 (NIV)

The Risk...

In a culture that values superficial likes and conflict avoidance, genuine biblical friendship stands out as a radical exception. We often confuse true friendship with aligning on similar hobbies, interests, or even a significant shared life experience.

However, King Solomon offers a far deeper, more challenging standard. In the book of Proverbs, he outlines the essential building blocks for forging lasting brotherhood—including telling the truth.

Solomon writes:

"Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses." — Proverbs 27:5-6 (NIV)

Refuse Silence

True friends of the heart who are pursuing God refuse to let each other wander into destructive paths, live out of touch with reality, or live outside of God's design for them. They tell the truth in love—not because it is comfortable, but because a person's life is worth the risk of losing the friendship.

Choosing silence over a necessary, loving confrontation is not a sign of a loving friend; it is actually selfishness. When we say we love someone too much to confront them with painful truth, we are really saying we love our own comfort too much to risk tension in the relationship or to risk losing the relationship from our own life. Withholding truth is like not telling a friend that they are about to step off the side of a cliff they can't see! We all have blind spots, and the most loving thing we can do is make our friends aware of them.

An Unexpected Blessing

When we approach tough conversations in the love of Christ—where you are so emotionally connected to a brother that delivering a hard word hurts you as much as it hurts him—it can actually build an even stronger relationship. After all, iron sharpens iron through tough conversations, not polite passivity. So, don't be afraid to let the sparks fly a little bit, because a blade can't be sharpened without them.

Lean Into the Tension

Is there a brother in your life who needs to hear the truth in love today? Step beyond comfortable passivity, lean into holy courage, and initiate that honest conversation this week—because his spiritual walk is worth the risk.

Ryan Johnson

MD5 Facilitator