Who are your closest friends? I imagine that very quickly in trying to answer that question some names and face came to your mind. The second step is to think about what those friends have brought to your life; how they have helped, encouraged, cried, laughed, helped, walked, travelled, listened and talked with you? Good friends make us better.

Walk with the wise and become wise,
    for a companion of fools suffers harm.

Proverbs 13:20 NIV

I don’t know about you but I’d rather be wise than a fool. Here are four brief thoughts on just some of the biblical wisdom on friendship.

Good friends are loyal.
These friendships, the ones that stand the test of time, that weather the trials and sorrows of life are an incredible source of blessing. You know, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are there. (“One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24)

Good friends tell you the truth.
A courageous friend is not going to speak behind your back but to your face. They are not going to keep their misgivings secret but to talk to you. (“Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” Proverbs 27:5-6)

Good friends are forgiving.
If our friends didn’t have this quality there’s a good chance none of us would have any friends, and if you don’t agree with that you basically think you’ve never upset anyone. In which case, well done you! But I need friends who understand and practice forgiveness. (“Whoever would foster love covers over an offence, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.” Proverbs 17:9)

Good friends make us better.
In a world where often the only option is to like or love something, in a world where we must affirm everyone’s choices and behaviours, there seems to be no place for someone to challenge us. To challenge is to not affirm or agree and there is a real danger that without robust challenges we will not be equipped to stand the tests and trial of life. We need to have some metal in us, we need the anvil to hit the sword so we can be moulded, refined and bent into shape. (“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17) Friends like this are a true blessing, or as Proverbs says, “Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice.” (27:9)

If you have even one friend like this you are truly blessed and if you have more, then your blessings are multiplied. Yet they also point us to an even greater reality and truth which is the friendship we with God through Jesus. Jesus was a friend to sinners (Matthew 11:19) and a friend to his followers (John 15:15).

Jesus Christ is the faithful one who sticks with us closer than any family member and whose love is enduring. One who speaks truth to us when we fail and yet whose love covers over our offences. He is the one who takes upon himself our debts, our calamities, our sorrows, who takes into his own heart the wounds that we have caused. He is one who sharpens us with His wisdom, who steers us always to the right path. He is one whose words and ways are a pleasant aroma and whose presence is a joy. He is one who will never leave us or forsake us. He is our true friend who in our time of trouble gave up even his own life to save ours, who gives ceaselessly of His own Spirit to us. And oh yes he also forgives us. And that, my friends, is good news.

If you’re interested in my recent talk on friendship, you can find it here.