Saturday Motivation: The Value of Friendship

Saturday Motivation with Yahwendy!

The Value of Friendship!

Text: Proverbs 18 v 24: One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother

What’s friendship?

Friendship is an attachment to a person proceeding from intimate acquaintance and a reciprocation of kindness.

Friendship may also be a favorable opinion or regard for another person due to their amiable and respectable qualities.

Friendship is different from goodwill which is kindness to mankind in general.
Friendship is built on mutual trust and respect. It`s building one another up and helping one another grow.

Friendship is truly one of the greatest gifts in life. In our friends, we find trusted companions who know and love us for who we are no matter what.

Friends are the people who get us through rough times. They are people who often come to us with compassion and tell us the truth at all times even when we do not want to hear it.

Types of friends

There are two different kinds of friends; namely True friends and false friends.
True friendship is a noble and virtuous attachment that springs from a pure source or respect for the worth or amiable qualities in another individual.

False friendship on the other hand is a temporary attachment springing from interest and may change in a moment to enmity and rancor.

There can be no friendship without confidence and no confidence without integrity.

What’s friendship according to the scriptures

Friendship is loving companionship (1 Samuel 18 v 1 and 3. 1 Samuel 20 v 7, 2 Samuel 1 v26) David & Jonathan.

Friendship is simple association (Genesis 38 v 12, 2 Samuel 15 v37)

The key to having loyal friends or to making friends is to be friendly.

Friends are indispensable in life. Many true friends are closer than brothers and sisters and having a friend you can confide in is a plus. The value of friendship is one of the most important things in a person`s life.
The worth of a true friend is not diminished by time. It is not devalued by inflation or worn-out by use.

True friends are like medicine to the soul (Proverbs 27 v 9). They are like perfume and incense that bring joy to the heart.

The pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice.
There is little friendship in the world. I say this because many people that I have come across do not understand the concept of friendship.

A lot of people have been let down, abandoned or betrayed by so-called friends. People that they thought were their friends.
A lot of people struggle with the concept of friendship because they do not understand what it truly means.

True friends or Biblical friends are not in the relationship for what they can get out of it. They will not betray or abandon you in bad times or in your time of need or lack.
Biblical friends stick with you even when there is no perceived benefit in doing so and even in the midst of adversity. True friends love at all times not just when it is convenient.

In the worldly context, friendship is a self-centered idea. It is always about what you can do for me or what I can get from it.
Biblically however, friendship is an outward focused concept. It is about service to others rather than service to self.

What Is The Ultimate Test Of Biblical Friendship?

Biblically, a friend must be willing to do the following for another friend;

1. Remain loyal, helpful and stay true to your friends in good and in bad times
2. Be genuine and speak the truth to your friend at all times instead of pretending and using them
3. Demonstrate the love described in (1 Corinthians 13 and 14)
4. Be willing to lay down your life should the need arise (John 15 v 13)

From the above test on Biblical friendship, we will find out that a lot of so-called friends are just friendly acquaintances.
They turn out to be casual pals who benefit from the relationship in some way but are not true friends.

What Is the Law on Friendship?
By Luke 6 v 31; Do to others as you would have them do unto you, the law on friendship can be summarized thus;

1. Be sincere
2. Share a mutual bond and intimacy
3. Be kind and affectionate
4. Render help and assistance when required
5. Come together, unite and engage in positive communication

Let’s learn some facts about friendship

1. God expects his children to be friends with others. If we love God genuinely, we must also love our brothers and sisters in Christ (1 John 4 v 21)
2. A biblical friend is loyal and helpful even in the worst of times (Proverbs 17 v 17)
3. Fair-weather friends run away when it looks like they might be needed but true friends run to you.
4. A true friend will tell you what you need to hear (Proverbs 27v 17)
5. A true friend will lay down his life for another (John 15 v 13-15)
6. Biblical friendship is the only real and authentic friendship that lasts
7. A friend loves at all times and will not run away in your time of need.

Let’s look at some examples of friendship in the Bible

1. Friendship between God and human characters; (God and Moses); this is likened to friendship because Moses conversed with God face to face (Exodus 33 v 11). (God and Abraham) (2 Chronicles 20 v 7, Isaiah 41 v 8); Friendship between God and His people; (Isaiah 5 v 1-7).
2. Friendship between Jesus and His disciples; (Luke 12 v 4, John 15 v 13-15)
3. Friendship with sinners (Matthew 11 v 19)
4. Friendship with the World (James 4 v 4)
5. Friendship with other believers (This is the model set by God and we are encouraged to treat the people we meet as our brothers and sisters (John 1 v 14, 1 Timothy 5 v 1-3, 1 Peter 1 v 22)

Let’s look at some bible verses on friendship

1. John 15 v 12-13; my command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
2. Job 16 v 20-21; My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; on behalf of a man, he pleads with God as one pleads for a friend.
3. Job 42 v 10; When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes giving him twice as much as before.
4. Proverbs 27 v 9; Oil and perfume make the heart glad and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.
5. Romans 12 v 10; Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor,
6. Proverbs 16 v 28; A perverse person stirs up conflict and a gossip separates close friends
7. Proverbs 17 v 9: One who forgives an affront fosters friendship but one who dwells on disputes will alienate a friend.
8. Ecclesiastes 4 v 10; If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.
9. Job 6 v 14: Anyone who withhold kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty
10. Ecclesiastes 4 v 9; Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor.
11. Proverbs 27 v 10; Do not forsake your friend or a friend of your family and do not go to your relative’s house when disaster strikes you-better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away
12. Proverbs 22 v 24-25; Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared
13. Proverbs 12 v 26: A righteous man is cautious in friendship but the way of the wicked leads them astray.
14. Galatians 6 v 2; Carry each other’s burdens and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.
15. Proverbs 27 v 17: Iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend
16. Proverbs 27 v 6: Faithful are the wounds of a friend but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful
17. Proverbs 27 v 14: He who blesses his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it will be a curse to him
18. Proverbs 17 v 18; A man devoid of understanding shakes hands in a pledge and becomes surety for his friend
19. Proverbs 18 v 24; A man who has friends must himself be friendly but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother
20. Proverbs 19 v 6: Many entreat the favor of nobility and everyone is a friend to him who gives gifts.
21. Proverbs 22 v 11: He who loves purity of heart and has grace on his lips, the King will be his friend.

Let us pray
Oh Lord my Father, help me to find true friendship and when I find it give me the grace to be a true friend who loves unconditionally. Help me to overcome friendship rivalry and competition with purity and integrity help me to always be truthful to my friends and be bold enough to tell them the truth about anything including my perception of things as they seem to me even if they do not want to hear it, in Jesus Mighty Name! Amen!

Shalom!

Yahwendy