Friends are Friends Forever

For the last couple of weeks we’ve been looking at purity and this week is no different. This particular week we will be looking at purity from a different angle…..Friendships. So, what does the topic of friendships have to do with purity. We will unpack this throughout the week.

First things first lets look at what a friendship is. In a day where friendship seems to be defined by the amount of people that stalk you on facebook lets dig a little deeper into what a friend really is. We commonly hear or think of friends like family. They stick up for you not tare you down, hang out with you even when you’re lame or boring. They will challenge you or tell you when you’re being dumb. They will even tell you if you have stuff in your teeth because truly they want the best for you.

That’s a few ideas of what I think a friend is. Now, I’m going to throw you a bunch of quotes and definitions of what others think a friend is. Think of your friends as you read these. Do they measure up? Do you measure up?

Friendship improves happiness, and abates misery, by doubling our joys, and dividing our grief.
- Joseph Addison

Brainyquote.com defines friendship as: “The state of being friends; friendly relation, or attachment, to a person, or between persons; affection arising from mutual esteem and good will; friendliness; amity; good will.”

Merriam-Webster defines friendship in their dictionary as such:

Main Entry: ¹friend

Pronunciation: \ˈfrend\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English frend, from Old English frēond; akin to Old High German friunt friend, Old English frēon to love, frēo free

Date: before 12th century

1 a : one attached to another by affection or esteem b : aquaintance
2 a : one that is not hostile b : one that is of the same nation, party, or group
3 : one that favors or promotes something (as a charity)
4 : a favored companion

Alright, so there are a few solid and educationy ways of looking at friendship. Now, lets take a quick look at what the Bible says about friends and friendships. These are just a few of the many verses about friendship in the bible.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls for he has no one to help him up.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 New King James Version

A friend loveth at all times.
Proverbs 17:17

This is my commandment, that ye love one another, even as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

John 15:12-13

Look at your friendships….take a good hard look at those guys and girls that you call friends.

Are they hostile towards you?

Do they display love to you?

Do you enjoy yourself when you hang out with them?

Do your friends improve your happiness or bring you down?

Do they bring out the best or worst in you?

Do they stick by you no matter what?

Would they lay down their life for you?

Would you lay down your life for them?

So, Dudes and Dudettes, this is just an introduction into this weeks topic. I’d like you to take a look at what, especially, the Bible says about friendships. Take a look at your friendships…question and understand your friendships. They are something very precious and very rare. If you are lucky to be blessed with such a relationship, treasure it.

I will end this devo with a quote and a challenge: “The only way to have a friend is to be one." -Ralph Waldo Emerson