“A real friend,” said 18-year-old Semone, “is one who sticks with you through thick and thin. He is one who shares not only good times but also bad times. When you have problems, you can always talk to your friend and find a shoulder to cry on.”
“A friend is loving all the time and becomes a brother in times of trouble.”
Proverbs 17:17
a friend is one who loves us. We may be inclined to think that our friends are those who tell us how great we are. On the other hand, if a companion were to tell us we were wrong, perhaps our feelings would be ‘bruised.’ But There is more trust to be put in bruises from one who loves than in effusive kisses from one who hates. So we need to be careful that our ego doesn’t cause us to choose the wrong kind of friends.
One who appreciated the importance of this was 18-year-old James. He said: “A real friend to me is a person who tells you when you do something wrong and tries to help you stop.” Agreeing, 26-year-old Marvia said: “Sometimes a so-called friend will see you get into trouble and then say, ‘I saw you leading up to that, but I was afraid to tell you.’ But when a real friend sees you going the wrong way, she will try to warn you before it’s too late—even if she knows you may not like what she says.”
In the Bible he tells us how to use our lives so as to find satisfaction, instead of suffering needless regrets. Proverbs 2:6-9 informs us that, if we listen to God and do what he counsels, we will understand “the entire course of what is good.”
If you have a friend who relies on that source of counsel, one who thinks straight and talks straight, he can provide you with valuable input and thereby aid you in making wise decisions. For good reasons the Bible speaks of “the sweetness of a friend’s counsel that comes from the heart.” Proverbs 27:9
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