Friendship: July 11, 2014

TODAYS WORD FOR FRIDAY JULY 11, 2014.

FRIENDSHIP

DEFINITION:

A state of attachment to someone by affection or esteem; close association; companionship; supportive or well wishing; without hostility.

SCRIPTURE:

A friend loves at all times. Proverbs 17:17.

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24.

He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm. Proverbs 13:20

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

In the book of Proverbs Solomon gives us wise words of advice to teach us how to live a godly life. Solomon gives us words of wisdom on three aspects of friendship: the foundation of a true friendship in Proverbs 17:17; the necessity of choosing friends wisely in Proverbs 18:24; and the influence that friends have on a person’s personal life in Proverbs 13:20.

In Proverbs 17:17 he notes the foundation of a friendship is love. A true friend is a constant source of love. To love at all times requires loyalty. Friends may not always agree but loyal friends will continue to love each other. Loyal friends will be there for each other in the good times and in the bad times.

Many people base their friendship on what they can get out of it. These kinds of friends do not last and either you will leave them or they will leave you as soon as one sees that they cannot benefit in some way with the friendship.

Genuine friendship means being available to help in times of trouble and distress. We must consider what kind of friend we are and develop friends as the scriptures encourage us to do.

In Proverbs 18:24, the writer Solomon is telling us that the person who makes friends too easily and indiscriminately does so to his own destruction. On the other hand a friend chosen wisely is more loyal than a brother. The word “friend’ here is a strong word meaning one who loves.

To have just one friend who sticks by us in good and bad times is better than to have many friends who are only superficial acquaintances. Friendship was used in II Chronicles 20:7 to describe Abraham’s close relationship with God because Abraham was loyal to God and loved God.

The type of friends we choose as close friends speaks volumes about us. Friends that we spend a lot of time with have a significant effect and influence on our life. Proverbs 13:20 admonishes us that, “He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffer harm.” We must choose our friends wisely.

It is of most importance that parents get to know who their children’s friends are and to make sure that they are the right kind of friends. Friendships are important to everyone, but especially to teenagers. Christian parents have a responsibility to get their children involved in church and with groups that uphold Biblical values so that their children can choose wholesome friendships.

The story is told by Edgar Guest of a rich man who was almost friendless. His life had been one long series of bickering and lawsuits. Friendship meant nothing to this man as he was making his fortune. Late in his life he met a man with whom he had a bitter quarrel with many years prior. The wealthy man asked the other man, “I do not understand it. Why do you have hundreds of friends and I really have none to whom I can turn?”

The old acquaintance replied, “SIR, I WAS BUSY MAKING FRIENDS YEARS AGO, WHILE YOU WERE BUSY MAKING MONEY.”

Friendship is based on love. As Christians, Christ told us to love our neighbors as ourselves. We need to be friends to our neighbors and, most importantly, to be friends that are there when the needs are the greatest for our neighbors.

Abraham Lincoln said that the better part of one’s life consists of building and keeping friendships. Mark Twain once said that friendship is only purchased with friendship.

What a friend we have in Jesus. He gave His life for us and He will never leave us nor forsake us. What kind of friend or friends do you have and what kind of friend are you? Do you talk with God daily? He alone can help us to be a friend that loves at all times.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in John 3:16.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall have everlasting life.

PRAYER:

Guide me in my choice of friends that I will choose wisely. Give me a spirit of love and concern for all those around me that need a friend. Help me to be the right kind of friend, a friend that loves at all times, that is loyal, and that influences friends to walk with God.