A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.
(Proverbs 17:17 ESV)
When you stop to count your blessings, chances are, it’s a long list – there are so many ways that God blesses His children! One of the most precious blessings of all is the blessing of friendship.
You may think that friendships are somewhat random… you chose your friends due to circumstances like living on the same street, going to the same school, or attending the same church. If a few details had been different, you would never have connected with those people.
While that may be true in some cases, God probably had a hand in the most important friendships in your life. There are no coincidences when it comes to His plans for you, and your friends were hand-picked as gifts and blessings!
God gave us our friends to encourage and exhort us. They remind us of the things of God in our weak moments and lift us up when we falter. We are to be as iron sharpening iron to one another (Proverbs 27:17), holding one another accountable for our lives before God.
As beloved author C.S. Lewis wrote, “…friendship is not a reward for our discriminating and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each of us the beauties of others.” Through our friends, we practice care and compassion for others and learn to put them before our own needs. We learn to see others through God’s eyes.
At the same time, we enjoy the comfort of knowing our friends are there for us. Like an outgrowth of our families, our friends carry us through our most difficult hours.
True friendship is an awesome display of God’s care for us. At the very center of every friendship is love. Through our friendships, we get to experience the brotherly love that the disciples felt for one another, and the love between Christians in the early church.
“Love is patient and kind…” Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13. These familiar words and the verses that follow are often read at weddings but are also a perfect picture of the friendships God has given us. Our friendships should be free of boastfulness, envy, grudges, and strife, but instead anchored in faith, hope, and love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)
Let’s remember to rejoice with our friends in their happiness, encourage and support them through hardships, and pray for all their needs. Thank you, Lord, for the incredible gift of friends!
“And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” (Colossians 3:14, ESV)