WHAT IS A FRIEND?
A.
A friend is someone who knows you. It’s been said that “A true friend is someone who knows
all about you and loves you anyway.” One man identified a friend as “The one who steps in
when the whole world steps out.” Someone else said, “A friend is one who never gets in the
way, except when we are on the way down.” These are all wonderful descriptions of a friend.
B. A friend is someone who loves you. Proverbs 17:17, “A friend loveth at all times.” At all times!
Not just when things are going good, but even when things are going bad.
C. A friend is some who has things in common with you. You enjoy each other’s company. You
have the same interest. Some once said, “To enjoy a friend we need more in common with
them than just hating the same people.” True Christians don’t hate anybody.
1 John 4:20-21 “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth
not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this
commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.” It doesn’t
matter how we feel about someone, we are commanded by God to love them! If we don’t, then
we are disobedient and not pleasing unto God.
D. A friend is someone who protects you. Someone who looks out for your best interest. Time
and time again, Jonathan demonstrated his love for David despite the fact that David was
Jonathan’s rival for the throne. Jonathan wasn’t jealous over the fact that David had been
anointed to be the next King. In fact, he risked his own life to save David from the wrath of his
father, King Saul.
E. A friend is someone who is loyal. It’s already been stated, “A friend loveth at all times! Sam
Davis, a Confederate spy was executed because he wouldn’t give the name of the person who
gave him his information. He said this, “If I had a thousand lives I would give them all before I
would betray a friend.” True friends are loyal.
F. A friend brings out the best in you. Prov. 27:17 “As Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth
the countenance of his friend.” Henry Ford said, “My best friend is the one who brings out the
best in me.”
G. A friend is interested in your spiritual well-being. If someone claims to be your friend, but they
are trying to involve you in things that are not pleasing unto God, then they are not true friends.
Job 16:21 “Oh that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbor.”
The man by the pool of Bethesda, had been sick for 38 years. He said to Jesus, that he didn’t
have a friend to help him into the pool. In contrast, the paralyzed man in Luke 5, had four
friends who were concerned about him enough that they were willing to tear a hole in the roof
of the house where Jesus was speaking, just to get their friend the help that he needed. True
friends care about both your physical and spiritual well-being.
What kind of friend are you? May God help us all, to be the kind of friends that our friends need us
to be.
Friend Day is April 24th. Make sure you bring a friend with you.