Know Your Friends

photo courtesy of this site

Friends come and go. In my years of life here on earth, i could say that i  met different kinds of friends. There are friends who are still faithfully praying for me, there are friends who are still there and some have already forgotten me. 

I remember when i was in my third year and fourth year high school which i spent here in Manila, we were 4 close friends but when we reached college and started to work, we didn't see each other anymore. When twitter and facebook weren't popular then, i tried to search for them through friendster and i found one of them. I added her and she accepted my request but when i sent her a private message asking how she was and asked if she could still remember me, there was no reply...in tagalog, deadma! (no reaction at all). She didn't bother answering me. I was a little bit hurt because we were closed during our high school  years (at least two years in high school, because i was a transferee in that school) and yet she couldn't even say hi to me. She wasn't excited to see me again. I don't remember that we had arguments when we last saw each other and  as far as i could remember, we didn't have any argument when we were together. I don't know...until now, I'm still wondering why that "deadma".

Anyways, as i studied the verses about friendship, i came to realize that there are levels of friendship. These are the things I've learned:

1) Acquaintances- 

These are the people we can call "friends" but we don't really tell them everything about us. These are just the people we say "hi" or "hello" to; we can eat with them but not really have the intimacy of friendship with them. These are the people who are just there when they need something from us (sadly) but when we are in need or in trouble, they stay away from us.

Proverbs 14:20

The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends.

Psalm 38:11
My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds; my neighbors stay far away.

Proverbs 19:4

Wealth attracts many friends, but even the closest friend of the poor person deserts them.


2) Unreliable Friends 

These are the people whom you trust but are unreliable; they would slander you sometimes and desert you.

Jeremiah 20:10

I hear many whispering, “Terror on every side! Denounce him! Let’s denounce him!” All my friends are waiting for me to slip, saying, “Perhaps he will be deceived; then we will prevail over him and take our revenge on him.”

Jeremiah 9:4

Beware of your friends; do not trust anyone in your clan. For every one of them is a deceiver, and every friend a slanderer.

Jeremiah 38:22

All the women left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you: “‘They misled you and overcame you— those trusted friends of yours. Your feet are sunk in the mud; your friends have deserted you.’

Lamentations 1:2

Bitterly she weeps at night, tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.


3) Close Friends 

These are your circle of friends. Like Jesus, when he was on earth, he had the 12 apostles as his close friends. These are the people whom you could reveal things to  that you couldn't reveal things to just anyone. They are not just open to your friendship but they are open to your mentor-ship. But gossip sometimes may separate this kind of friendship or if you're repeating the same matter that causes your friendship at stake, your friendship will be separated.

John 15:15

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

Proverbs 16:28 

A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.

Proverbs 17:9

Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.


4) Faithful Friends
 

These are friends who will stick closer than a brother.

Proverbs 18:24

One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

These are friends who will die with you.

Daniel 2:13

So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death.

 

These are friends who will pray with you and will pray for you.

Daniel 2:17-18

Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 

3 John 1 Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.

 

These are friends who will lay down their life for you.

John 15:13

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

These are friends who will take care of you when u are in trouble.

Acts 24:23

He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard but to give him some freedom and permit his friends to take care of his needs.

These are friends who are ready to encourage you.

2 Corinthians 7:1

Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

 

These are friends who will advice you the right thing to do (especially from biblical perspectives)

Romans 12:19

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

1 Corinthians 10:14 

Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.

1 Peter 2:11 

Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.

These are friends who will stimulate you to wholesome thinking.

2 Peter 3:1 

Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking

These are friends who will want you to be closer to God.

Philippians 4:1
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!

I hope you have also learned from this study I've made. Proverbs 12:26 says, "The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray."

Above all, don't forget to deepen your friendship with God. God is the most faithful friend that you can ever have. He wants your intimate friendship with Him.

Copyright © 2011 by Mari Ann Rose "Mariah" F. Gadapan . All rights reserved worldwide.
(I put "copyright" on my every post because this is my blog site, it's like my signature on my every post.)
By the grace of God I am what I am.

These are my own thoughts. If in case u want to use this material, please ask permission from me first or at least, acknowledge that i wrote it and it came from this site.Thank you!