Friendship (4) Wednesday 10th October 2018 'You can trust a friend who corrects you.' Proverbs 27:6 CEV Two important qualities that can help deepen a friendship are honesty and loyalty. The Bible says, 'You can trust a friend who corrects you, but kisses from an enemy are nothing but lies' (Proverbs 27:6 CEV). Sometimes we need our friends to tell us where we're going wrong. While that can be hard to take, we know we have a great friend when they're prepared to take that risk and tell us the truth. It may not be what we want to hear, and it may hurt, but in the long run it will help us. Honesty is necessary for a friendship to survive. Both parties need to be prepared to tell the truth, in a loving and constructive way (see Ephesians 4:15). We need to be asking whether each person trusts the other enough to open up to them and to be opened up to. If each person can, then this is a great foundation for a strong and lasting friendship. Our friendships also need loyalty. 'There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother' (Proverbs 18:24 NKJV). The word 'stick' refers to how skin sticks to the bone. It suggests just how close one friend should be to another. We need to be building friendships where we know we can turn to one another in the tough seasons, not just in the great ones. We need to know we have lasting friendships. So what now? Contact a friend you trust completely with a message to say that you're grateful for their friendship to you.
