The Value of FriendshipsInbox
"A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for a time of adversity."
Proverbs 17:17
The Value of Friendships
Today, I want to share five characteristics of a faithful friend that may help you realize the importance of building strong relationships with other believers.
A Friend Knows You and Loves You
Solomon declared, “A friend loves at all times…” (Proverbs 17:17). My favorite definition of a friend is this: “A friend is someone who knows all about you and loves you anyway.”
A Friend Fills Your Life with Joy
Solomon wrote, “Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of one's friend springs from his earnest counsel” (Proverbs 27:9). A true friend brings warmth and joy to the heart.
A Friend Helps You When You Are in Trouble
A faithful friend stands beside you when you are up and when you are down—in prosperity and through adversity. Solomon noted that “…a brother is born for adversity” (Proverbs 17:17). Someone rightly said that a friend is “someone who steps in when the whole world steps out” (cf. Job 6:14; Ecclesiastes 4:9–10).
A Friend Always Brings Out the Best in You
Henry Ford once said, “My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.” It is important that we choose the right kinds of friends because friends can make us bitter, or they can make us better (cf. Proverbs 22:24–25, 27:17; 1 Corinthians 15:33).
A Friend Is Interested in Your Spiritual Well-Being
In John 5, a paralyzed man lay beside the pool of Bethesda day after day—hoping to be the first into the pool to be healed when the water was stirred. The saddest verse in this story records the man saying, “Sir, I have no one to help me into the pool…” (John 5:7).
But there is another story in Scripture of a man who was paralyzed, and four of his friends placed him on a mat and carried him directly to Jesus to be healed (Luke 5:17–26). Jesus healed him that day, but that healing would never have happened without the determination of a few close friends!
Conclusion
As a pastor, I learned that 90% of the people who came to me for counseling would not have needed counseling if they simply had a single close friend. Friends are essential to our spiritual and emotional health.
Someone once described a true friend this way:
He is willing to share his heart with you when others have taken yours out; he puts a warm arm around your shoulder after others have given you the cold shoulder; he puts you back on your feet when you're down on your heels; he still says “Hello” after all others have said “Goodbye”; he is the one who was never quite able to get to you when you were on top, but manages to stand right beside you when you are down. He is your FRIEND.
Now, that's a real friend!
Jeff Swart
MD5 Facilitator
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