by Jeffrey Bush
A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24)
This verse offers two encouraging thoughts concerning friendship:
A friend that sticks closer than a brother.
Humanly speaking we have friends that are close because of common interests, purpose, proximity, or commonalities. Those friends are closer than one’s own blood siblings.
Spiritually speaking, a child of God has access to a friend that never sleeps nor slumbers; One Who is on call 24/7. The Holy Spirit, whom abides in each child of God, is greatest Comforter and Helper of all. The Lord Jesus Christ is the great mediator to the Father. The Heavenly Father never abandons, always loves, never fails, and is always reliable. You’re never alone with God on your side!
To have friends, you must be friendly.
This is a proven principle from the One who made mankind. It seems so logical and simple, yet it’s often neglected, as if it’s a hidden secret for so many. If every person were to encourage others, help others, offer smiles and handshakes, and extend themselves, they would probably soon find they have more friends than the average person. This is a give-to-receive principle — give first and sow now in order to see the fruit later. Those who are always waiting for others to encourage, ask them how they are or welcome them in, will not have many friends, but those who are first to encourage, welcome others, and ask how they are doing will have many friends. The simple yet profound truth is be friendly and you’ll have friends. So here are a few practical steps for today:
- Express friendship with your words. Find someone to compliment today. Be quick and be generous with your compliments. Whether you say in public, private, through a card, text, or email, use your words to express your friendship.
- Express friendship with your hands. Help someone today. Open a door, offer to carry someone’s load, or just ask how you can give a hand with something they need.
- Express friendship with your feet. Visit, take a gift, run an errand, or be available to take them somewhere. Obviously you can’t do this every day, but extending yourself when you can will be greatly appreciated by others.
