Friends

Have you ever been hurt by a friend? Friends are wonderful people. Webster say this about the word friend  “one attached to another by affection or esteem :  one that is not hostile.”There are different kinds of friendships. There are those who we are acquainted with, there are old friends, those we use to spend time with but because of the different things that have taken place in our life we just don’t see one another very much. There is also our best friend; this is the one that really knows you and you feel comfortable spending time with  and telling them things you wouldn’t just tell anyone.  What if we were to offend our friend what would that do to our relationship? It could destroy it. That happened to me not long ago I unknowingly had hurt a close friend; my best friend years ago. When he told me how I had hurt his feeling all I could say was I am sorry and ask for his forgiveness which I did. That reminded me that our friends of long ago or friends of present are all valuable. In the book of Proverbs chapter 18 and verse 19 we are told A brother offended is harder to be won than astrong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle. Wow a friend or a person is harder to be won than a strong city. That’s what discord, strife and quarreling will do; it can become so bad that it will be as a castle which is protected by iron gates and a mote filled with alligators. Sometimes saying I’m sorry will not allow them to drop down the Draw Bridge and let you back in as their friend. We can have hope though for in verse 21 of the same chapter we read this Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.  Did you see it? We have power of killing a friendship or giving that friendship life with our tongue. What’s more important being right and losing a friend or keeping the friendship? I think keeping the friendship for we each have the power to do so. People who use to be friends still go to the same church but now they aren’t speaking to each other for one of them did something or said something and instead of working it out they just don’t speak. How childish and UN Christ like is that? Well, if we can continue on that way one day we will have no friends at all: or we can do as the last verse tell us to Proverbs 18:24 A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.  If you and I are going to have “FRIENDS” (that’s more than one) we are going to have to be friendly and when we become friendly we will have friends. Now the question is are you and I friendly? Answer: count your friends!