Friends love through all kinds of weather, and families stick together in all kinds of trouble. – Proverbs 17:17
Imagine you are walking on a hiking trail with a group of friends. Friend #1 asks for a drink from your water bottle, then pours the rest out on the ground, laughing menacingly. Friend #2 is unloading heavy things from their own backpack into everyone else’s whenever someone is not paying attention. Friend #3 is lagging behind, complaining that everyone else is going too fast.
In this silly example, we can spot the people in our lives too. The ones who will turn our kindness into mockery, the ones who are only thinking of themselves, the ones who keep us behind. But it is much more challenging to identify ourselves in such a story. What kind of a friend are we being to the people around us?
In the book of Proverbs, chapter 18, verse 24 we read about the kind of friend who sticks closer than a brother. This is the kind of friend we all ought to be – and one who loves the people in their lives abundantly. The greatest kind of love is described in John 15:13 as laying down one’s life for a friend. We find the perfect example of this in none other than Jesus.
Am I a Good Friend?
Prayer: Thank You God, for showing us the ultimate example of how to be a good friend by sending Jesus to Earth. Would You also teach me how to love the people You have placed around me well so that I may be considered a good and dear friend? Amen.
Challenge: Your challenge for the week is to be more aware of the kind of friend you are for the people around you – this includes your siblings too! What kind of impact are you leaving on your loved ones? When you leave a conversation with people, do they feel loved and assured of themselves or do they feel broken down and ashamed?
