Friends
“He who walks with the wise grows wise: but a companion of fools, suffers harm.” Proverbs 13:20
Webster describes a friend as, “one that acts in the best interest of another.” Do I act in the best interest of my friends? Do my friends act in the best interest of me? That’s a hard question to ask and sometimes, even harder to hear the answer!
The Bible does not tell us by name who we should be friends with and whom we should not be friends with, but it does have a fair amount to say about friendship. This is a two way street – it explains not only the kind of friends we should have, but also the kind of friend we should be!
I Corinthians 15:33 tells us that “bad company corrupts good character.” Did you know we become like those we hang around? So even if we have good character but our friends don’t, the Bible tells us it WILL affect us!
Think about it this way… you (the one with good character) are standing on a dining hall chair. Your friend (the one without good character) is sitting on the dining hall floor in front of you. You are trying to be a good influence on her and lift her up onto the chair, but she is pulling against you. Do you think it is easier for you to pull her up on to the chair with you or for her to pull you off the chair on to the floor? It is ALWAYS easier to bring someone down than it is to lift them up!
My dad used to say, “show me where you spend your time and your money and I will show you what is important to you.” The same is true here. Show me your friends and I will show you your character. You are whom you hang around!
The Bible also instructs us to encourage one another. Thessalonians 5:11 exhorts us to “encourage one another and build each other up”. One of my closest Greystone friends would always sign her cards and letters to me throughout the year with Romans 1:12… my prayer “is that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” There is nothing like the encouragement of a good friend!
My guess is that, like most girls – you want good friends. So take a minute and ask yourself these three questions: According to the Bible,1) Do I have the right kind of friends? 2) Am I being the right kind of friend?3) What changes do I need to make?