Making and having true friends is not easy. Of course people will disagree and say yes it is, just look at my Facebook page, I have over 1000 friends. Do you really have that many friends or is the number of people you may know?
A true friend will:
- Support you in anything you do, but that does not mean they will not give you advice if they think you are taking a wrong path.
- Have your back
- Love you no matter what
- Talk to you versus believing in what is being said by others
- Help you grow
- Be there when you need to talk/express your emotions.
- Keep your secrets
- Accept you for who you are
There are many Bible verses about friends and friendship:
Proverbs 18:24 New International Version (NIV)
24 One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Proverbs 22:24-25 New International Version (NIV)
24 Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person,
do not associate with one easily angered,
25 or you may learn their ways
and get yourself ensnared.
Proverbs 13:20 New International Version (NIV)
20 Walk with the wise and become wise,
for a companion of fools suffers harm.
The pastor of my church has been going through some rough times recently. We were and maybe still are planning to move, but yesterday he received some bad news. The property we were looking at and had been negotiating for was leased and the owner did not have the courage to contact us to say the property was already leased. From my understanding we had contacted the owner first and the correct thing to do would have been to contact us to give us the right to accept or reject the lease.
My pastor will not admit it, but I can already see that this has impacted him. He and I went out for lunch today and I told him that I was going to vote no on the move unless God directed me to vote yes. He respected that. I also told him that I needed to know why we were moving and all the reasons that were given with exception of one could have been done at our current location. He thanked me for being a true friend, but there are so many out there that will not talk to him. There have been many comments about why we are moving and instead of talking to the pastor, they accept what this other person has said as fact. Please do not do that.
If you have/are real friend and not just an acquaintance and you hear things, go talk to this friend. Do not believe what others say or let others influence you.
Luke 6:31 New International Version (NIV)
31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
Do you want others talking behind your back? My guess would be no. If I had to guess, you would want that person to come and talk to you. You might even be wondering why this person just did not come and talk to you instead of accepting what another has said as fact. Now ask yourself do you do this? Do you believe what others say about people without ever talking to that person? If yes, stop that. Do not be afraid to communicate with those that you consider to be a friend. It will be scary and nerve racking I am sure, but your relationship will grow stronger.