Bible & Friends jenny | 02 Sep 2007 11:30 pm
Friendship
Proverbs 18:24
A man of many companions may come to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Proverbs 27:9-10
Oil and perfume make the heart glad,
and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.
Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend,
and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity.
Better is a neighbor who is near
than a brother who is far away.
Blessed is a friendship that is based on the solid foundation of Christ. There is a security and trust that is welcomed by many and given by few. We all too often confide in a friend and have them in turn share it with their friends. I am to blame as well. For when I hear something, I sometimes think about who I should tell. Though this isn’t usually my habit, I am thankful that God has spared me from much of this as I strive to push through and overcome this temptation. I only have about 2 people with whom I would share everything with, and in turn never share what they tell me. However, I am quick to trust people which can quickly lead me to my own suffering if they should betray my trust.
God has some ideas about friends and neighbors that are important to remember. His Word comments sometimes about family and neighbors and when they are important. If you are in dire need and your neighbor is available to you but your brother is far away, don’t call your brother. Your neighbor is there for you, as you should be there for your neighbor. When times are tough and you need a helping hand, don’t burden people who can’t help you from a distance, but rather seek those who are near that are able to help you.
But many friends are with the rich and the poor man is deserted by his friend. (Prov. 19:4) What hard words these are to understand. So many things are said about being poor and rich in the Bible. It is hard to understand why being poor is better than being rich when this world is so demanding of us. There are so many things to buy, to take care of, and then to replace with something better. But being poor also provides freedom. I remember being poor in college. When I didn’t have the money to buy anything, there was great freedom in not having the responsibility of what or when to buy things. What I didn’t have didn’t need worrying about. Though, I do remember times when I wanted things but couldn’t have them. I was not content with being without. I am that way still.
I don’t understand how to be a friend. I have a few friends, but I don’t really know what it takes to stand with my brother or sister in Christ and face persecution. I don’t know what it is like to grieve the loss of a very close friend. Though I am a friend I don’t feel adequate. I pray to God that he will continue to teach me to be a friend. To be a friend and neighbor that will respond to needs. But here is some direction. Direction that He has graciously given us, that we might be Christ to each other.
Colossians 3:12-17
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.