A true friend

"Billy Bob has sent you a friend request."

We've all been there.

Well, anyone with a Facebook account has been there.

That awkward, "I just met you for the first time ever and since you live across the country, I may never see you again so I am not sure I want you to see and comment on each status update or mobile upload" friend request. Apparently, nowadays, the only pre-requisite for friendship is simply having the capability to find someone online, and possibly meeting them in person...wait, actually, I don't think you even need to actually meet face to face in order to be able to be "friends" (at least via Facebook or Twitter).

That's where we have arrived, folks. In a day and age where someone can be called "friend" without knowing more than simply your name. We've most likely all done it...added an "acquaintance" to our online friends list. I'll admit, I have. However, if you are like me, you have at some point also come to the fork in the road when you realize the time has come to "clean up your friends list", which helps explain why in 2009, the word unfriend was voted Word of the Year.

So in this land (reality and online), how can one distinguish a true friend from someone on the brink of being unfriended"?

Well, as with all matters, the Bible has plenty to show us about friends.

Proverbs 27 offers us a few insights into determining the character of a true friend:
- faithful are the wounds of a friend (verse 6)

True friends are not necessarily those who will never hurt you, since the Bible tells us friends will have wounds, however, a true friend is a faithful one. One who will tell you when you are wrong or that you are doing wrong. One who will not leave you, but rather will be there, always there, sometimes lingering in the back until you allow them to come closer. But they are there. They are faithful.

- iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend (verse 17)

True friends are the ones who sharpen you. The ones who not only lift you up but also know when to keep you balanced. They are the sounding block when you have decisions to make. They are your cheerleader when you feel stuck in the battle. They are the outstretched hand, ready to lift you up when you have fallen.

- "Bear ye, one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." - Galatians 6:2

A true friend is one who is beside you, not just watching you bear your load, not constantly telling you how you should be carrying it or handling it, but they are right along side you, bearing the weight of it with you. This is a key characteristic of a true friend. For someone to put themselves and their own issues aside to come alongside me, and bear my burdens, to bear them and pray for them as fervently and passionately as their own, that is a mark of a true, faithful friend in my book.

I have a friend like that. A friend who has wounds, wounds caused by me. This friend sharpens me, straightens me out when I need it but also encourages me when I need it, too. This friend bore my burdens for me. This friend felt pain and anguish, so I wouldn't have to.

"A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly; and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13

"Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth; but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you." John 15:15

Jesus Christ has called me His friend. He fits and exceeds the very definition of friend. He is and always will be my very best friend. I am so very glad He has chosen me as a friend.


He is thee friend that sticks closer than a brother. He is the one friend who can offer me (and offer you as well) the greatest love of all. He is your Lord. He is your King. He is your Savior. He is your Friend.

He's my best friend.

Jesus! what a Friend for sinners!
Jesus! Lover of my soul;
Friends may fail me, foes assail me,
He, my Savior, makes me whole.

Jesus! what a strength in weakness!
Let me hide myself in Him;
Tempted, tried, and sometimes failing,
He, my strength, my vict'ry wins.

Jesus! what a help in sorrow!
While the billows o'er me roll,
Even when my heart is breaking,
He, my comfort, helps my soul.

Jesus! what a guide and keeper!
While the tempest still is high,
Storms about me, night o'ertakes me,
He, my pilot, hears my cry.

Jesus! I do now receive Him,
More than all in Him I find,
He hath granted me forgiveness,
I am His, and He is mine.

Chorus:
Hallelujah! what a Savior!
Hallelujah! what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.

Lyrics: John Wilbur Chapman