Saturday, August 20, 2011

Day #20 - A Real Friend


Proverbs 18:24: A man (person) that has friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. (AKJV). Once we concede that we do need friends, this Proverb warns us that in order to have and keep friends we must ourselves be friendly. It is so easy to ignore our responsibility in friendship and simply focus on the benefits. But if everyone wants a friend and no one is committed to being a friend, then we have a serious problem.

For the past few years I have maintained a personal goal of being a better friend to some very specific people. I am embarrassed about how long it took to make this a priority. But I have been blessed with so many friends – and I mean really good friends. There came a time when I had to assess whether or not anyone considered me as good a friend as I considered so many.

In my commitment to become a real friend I learned that:

A real friend checks on a friend just to see how the person is doing.
A real friend encourages a friend when they are not doing so well.
A real friend sticks close to a friend when the friend is in deep trouble.
A real friend tells a friend the truth in love.
A real friend supports the friend when it is no longer popular to do so.
A real friend makes it easy for a friend to help them.
A real friend does not put a friend in jeopardy.
A real friend takes advice as well as he or she gives advice.
A real friend prays for his or her friend.
A real friend is as happy for a friend as he would be for himself.
A real friend hurts just as much when a friend is in pain as she would if it were her.
A real friend helps a friend reach goals.
A real friend is hard to find and harder to be.


Lets not stop with finding good friends. Let’s work hard to be real friends.

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