Area of life
Friendship: what the Bible says
The people who shape you, and the friend you can be.
God might be speaking to you here if
- you act like a different person depending on who you are with
- you have nobody who knows how you are really doing
- you talk about friends behind their backs
- a friend is in trouble and you keep putting off reaching out
What this is
You become like the people you spend time with. God gives friends to sharpen us, carry us and tell us the truth, and through them He keeps us close.
Jesus called His disciples friends, shared His life with them and laid it down for them. Real friendship costs time, honesty and loyalty.
Some friendships pull you away from God. You can still love those people from a little further away, and ask God for at least one friend who points you to Jesus.
My verses
As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. For if one falls down, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to help him up!
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have learned from My Father I have made known to you.
Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds. Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Where to next
- Text one friend todayMessage someone you haven't heard from: How are you really doing? Then follow up.
- Find one faith friendAsk a Christian friend to meet every week or two to talk honestly and pray.
- Stop the gossipWhen a conversation turns against someone who isn't there, change the subject or say something kind.
- Show up when it costsBe there for a friend in a hard moment: a hospital visit, a meal, a lift.
- Check your closest circleAsk: Are the people closest to me drawing me to God or away? Adjust kindly where needed.
What grows here
Pray
Jesus, You call me friend. Give me friends who sharpen me and make me a friend others can trust. Show me who needs me this week.