“The righteous should choose friends carefully.” Proverbs 12:26 NKJV.
The right friends will not let you be who you would have been without them.
My thoughts and comments today are about “friends.”
You were not made to live in isolation, but created for community. People thrive in fellowship with others. Friends will be an inseparable part of your life; make sure you choose the right friends. Life is better when shared. “Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one.” Read Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 NLT. Joys and successes are doubled; your problems and struggles are halved.
“The righteous should choose friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray.” Proverbs 12:26 NKJV.The secret to having friends is being the right kind of friend. In life, I have learned the path to satisfaction is found serving the needs of others. It is not that I am so noble as to be selfless. I have simply observed that the best way for good to come your way is providing good things for others.
The right friends come from your being a good friend. “Whoever sows generously will also reap generously . . for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 NIV. I have found these things to be true about the law of sowing and reaping. You reap what you sow, but as importantly, you will reap more than you sow. Life has also taught me that you need to sow what you expect to reap. I simply believe the truth that if you sow what you want, you will receive what you need. Unlike limitations in the physical realm, you may not always reap your harvest in the same field where you sowed, but in the Kingdom of God you will reap a harvest from what you sow.
The right friends may become God’s way to take you where He wants you to go. Do you remember the story of Joseph? After sharing his own dreams and the unfortunate circumstances that resulted, he might never have wanted to hear or think of dreams ever again. I love the heart of Joseph when two friends in prison were disturbed by dreams they experienced. Joseph said, “Tell me your dreams.” Genesis 40:8.
Joseph could have politely refused to relive his own pain again, even for friends. Or he could have spilled out every negative thing that his dreams seemed to cost him, and advised them just to forget their dreams. But he was willing to be a friend and help as he could. “A man who has friends must show himself friendly.” Proverbs 18:24 NKJV. He could not have known how God would use his kindness to help others to finally realize his own dreams of long ago.
The right friends can also be God’s tools to make you better and wiser. From his many regrets, Solomon learned, apparently the hard way, “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” Proverbs 27:6 NKJV. You don’t need to hear what you want to hear; you want to hear what you need to hear. Don, my dear friend of many years, told me I had said to him, “Thank you for not letting me be who I would have been without you in my life.”I don’t recall saying that, but I hope I did because I know that I have felt that way about our friendship. “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17 NIV.
My prayer for you today is: choose friends who will tell you the truth you need to hear.