Am I a Good Friend? (Daily Encouragement)
“Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend, and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of calamity. Better is a neighbor who is near that a brother who is far away. – Proverbs 27:10
Yesterday we talked about the need for intentionality to develop and cultivate friendships. It takes effort and sacrifice to be a true friend, a good friend. Jesus both shows and teaches us this through his life and teaching: greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13 – more on this in the next couple days). There is a clear call to not forsake our friends, to be near our friends, to lay down our lives for our friends as Jesus did for us. My friend and pastor Zach Simons did a teaching on friendship where he laid out 7 questions that help us see “what a good friend is”:
- Do I take the initiative? (It’s easy to wait for others)
- Do I sacrifice in my friendships? (Cost to keep friendships alive)
- Do I appreciate my friends for who they are or for what they can give me? (Commitment to them as a person)
- Do I hold grudges? (Forgiveness is a key element of friendship)
- Do I have godly expectations for friendship? (Not over-burdening)
- Do I bear with my friends? (Your friends are not perfect)
- Do I turn to God for friendship (embrace the truth that God has befriended us in Christ)
The church, the body of Christ, is a place that we should be and experience true friends. It is also a place where those who don’t believe what we believe should experience true friends as we follow Jesus, the friend of sinners.