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The Words of a Friend
The Words of a Friend
The encouraging words of a friend are worth more than gold. I know that the encouraging words that my friends give me keep me going. I look on them as blessings directly from heaven above. I thank God for them (the words and the friends) and I thank my friends for building me up with the words that edify according to the need of the moment (Ephesians 4:29).
Solomon wrote: A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity (Proverbs 17:17). You don’t need me to tell you how important friends are. Scripture tells us that God will watch over us and not allow us to endure more temptation than we are able to bear; that we ought to approach the throne of grace to find grace to help in time of need (1 Corinthians 10:13; Hebrews 4:16). One of the ways that God provides this care and protection is through our godly friends. Solomon’s point is that a friend, a true friend, loves you no matter what happens; will stick with you through thick and thin. At the beginning of this article, we noted that the words of a friend are worth more than gold; however, sometimes the worth of a friend is not seen in his/her words, but in his/her presence. Sometimes just knowing that someone is there is enough to get you through a difficult situation.
We live in a culture built on “rugged individualism.” We are a freedom-loving people and we don’t want anyone fooling around with our freedom and independence! There is a caution here, however. We must not let pride shut out our friends! Sometimes when we get into a tough situation, we don’t want to ask for help or cry out because that would not be in keeping with the rugged individual. We don’t want to take charity! Did you know that “charity” is a word that means “love”? I realize that we don’t want to be perceived as someone who always has his hand out, but the “charity” of our friends is a star in their crown and a blessing to them. If we deny them the opportunity to bless us, we deny them a blessing, as well.
Let me encourage you to let God help you and bless you through the friends and brethren who are around you. Please understand that such a blessing is only going to come through those friends who encourage you according to God’s will. No blessing will come when you follow a friend’s encouragement to go against God’s will. Still, when you are in trouble, when you are besieged from every angle, let your friends be a help and a support to you.
