7 Awesome Bible Verses About Friendship
November 30, 2015
Here are seven great Bible verses on friendship.
Proverbs 18:24 “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”
I have someone at the church where I pastor at who is a very dear and near friend of mine. We are closer than I am to my blood brother and that is the idea behind Solomon’s proverb. You would think your natural brother or sister would stick close to you during times of adversity but a Christian brother or sister can stick even closer because we have the same Father. We might better identify with what they’re going through, particularly if they’re being persecuted for their faith. Jesus once said “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). This isn’t saying we are to hate our own family but compared to our love for Christ it will look like hate to unbelievers. That same type of affection is the level that some Christian brothers and sisters reach in their friendship with one another.
John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
Surely you can imagine taking a bullet for your spouse and/or your children to save their lives but what about a friend? Jesus said that there is no greater love than to give your life for someone, even a friend, but there is more to this agape love that Jesus just spoke about in John 15:13. Jesus came and lived a sinless life and “at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die” (Rom 5:6-7). This is how “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). He showed this love without a word as He hung on the cross. Just think of the fact that Jesus died “while we were enemies [but] we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (Rom 5:10). Would you die for your friend, particularly if they were a fellow brother or sister in Christ? Would I?
Proverbs 17:17 “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”
Since we know that God is sovereign, nothing is coincidental in our lives. I truly believe that God directs certain people into our lives and at the exact time and for His specific purposes. A true friend should love at all times and our God-ordained friends were born for these times of adversity! Their love is unconditional and is irrespective of the levels of adversity their friend faces. If even a sparrow doesn’t fall to the ground that God’s not aware of, you know He was intentional in having us cross paths in life with certain people, including our closest friend. It is God Who brings our closest brother or sister in Christ into our lives. This friend really can love you “at all times,” even in times of great adversity.
Job 6:14 “He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty.”
People might forget that the Book of Job is part of the wisdom literature of the Bible and the last portion of the book has God Himself speaking. This is the oldest book in the Bible and it would better fit the time period of the first fifth of the Book of Genesis and even well before the Mosaic Law, Job apparently understood a lot about God and His laws. One thing that must have angered Job was how his three friends, who at first came to console him, quickly turned on him and blamed him for his suffering. They withheld any kindness from him and they falsely accused him of sinning and then not confessing it. That wasn’t the case. Job’s friends eventually forsook him, so this verse, where he says a withholding kindness from a friend is like forsaking the fear of the Almighty, was possibly directed at them. Job equated the forsaking of a friend in need (of kindness) to forsaking “the fear of the Almighty.” That sounds serious but that’s just what Job’s friends had done and God was angry at these three men for doing it.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!”
We live in a neighborhood where middle aged to senior citizen couples take walks together. It’s a lot easier for couples to take walks together because there’s safety in numbers; even with two. Solomon could see the benefit of if one fell, the other would be there to pick them up; either physically or emotionally. The woe is for that one who is alone for they’ve got none to help “lift him up!” Two are better than one because they’ve got each other’s back.
John 15:15 “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”
How humbling this must have been for the disciples to hear Jesus Christ call them “friends” and not servants anymore. Maybe that’s because Jesus had finished His earthly training with them and they were well prepared to do the Master’s work but now it was no longer a Master-servant relationship; it was a relationship like that of a friend. That means a friend does things out of love and pure devotion for their friend, not as a compulsory command from a master to a servant.
Proverbs 27:9 “Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.”
There is something pleasant about being around our best friend or friends. It’s like catching a whiff of a fragrant perfume; it makes “the heart glad.” The true sweetness in your relationship with your friend comes from their ability to speak frankly and honestly to you and who loves you enough to tell you the truth, even if it hurts. You sometimes seek their counsel, even if it means bouncing something off of them to see what they think. You care enough to ask them their opinion and your friend cares enough to tell you what they think. The sweetness of this friendship is rooted in “earnest counsel” meaning, sincere, genuine, authentic counsel, where there are no hidden motives or agendas.
Conclusion
It is true that “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy” (Prov 27:6). I use this verse to remind my closest friend and also my senior pastor mentor (now retired due to health) that if I’m ever found to be in biblical error, they have my permission to “wound me” because I would rather be corrected than incorrect and correction from a friend is better than the “kisses of an enemy.” Flattery gets you nowhere, iron sharpening iron does (Prov 27:17), especially since rust never sleeps.
Article By Pastor Jack Wellman
Today's Devotional
A Prayer for Unity in the Church This Christmas - Your Daily Prayer - December 22
It’s easy to take offense when someone hurts you, or you’re frustrated with where you are in life, and it seems as though everyone around you is thriving. But, when we take an honest look at ourselves and see how God loves us (1 Corinthians 13), we realize we have no right to hold any grudges against our brothers and sisters.
Today's Devotional
A Prayer for Unity in the Church This Christmas - Your Daily Prayer - December 22
It’s easy to take offense when someone hurts you, or you’re frustrated with where you are in life, and it seems as though everyone around you is thriving. But, when we take an honest look at ourselves and see how God loves us (1 Corinthians 13), we realize we have no right to hold any grudges against our brothers and sisters.
Past Stories
- Husband Decorates His Neighbors' Homes For Wife Who Loves Christmas
- Couple Befriend Older Neighbor After Hearing Music Coming From His Apartment
- California Man Carpools With Adult Children On His Very Last Day of Work Before Retirement
- Family of Three Grows To Seven Overnight With Birth of Quadruplets
- The World's Oldest Dog Spike the Chihuahua Turns 25 Years Old
- Christmas Tree Planted Back in 1979 Inspires and Unites a Small English Village
- Dick Van Dyke Turns 99 After Evacuating From a Wildfire and Welcoming His Lost Cat Back Home
- Santa and Mrs.Claus Continue to Spread Christmas Magic Even With Santa's MS Diagnosis
- Little Girl Gets a Big Elf On the Shelf Surprise Honoring the Little Brother Who Passed Away
- Little Boy From England With Leukemia Delivers Over 400 Christmas Gifts To Kids At the Hospital
- Gold Star Family Receives a Big Surprise That Will Change Their Lives Forever
- 8-Year-Old With Down Syndrome Is a Hero After Saving Sister From House Fire
- Man Paralyzed At 17 While Snowboarding Has Found True Love and a Wonderful Life
- His Wife Passed Away, Now Their Special Tree is the 2024 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree
- Granddaughter Captures Last Words Between Grandparents, Married For 69 Years
- New York State Police Rescue Woman Needing a Heart Transplant Stranded in Snowstorm
- Born the Same Year the Titanic Sank, World's Oldest Man Dies at 112
- Family Receives Support From School and Community After Losing House in a Fire
- Soldier Reunites With His Military Dog Yyacob After Years Apart
- Chicago Man Discovers That The Owner Of The Bakery He Loved To Visit Was Actually His Mother
- Husband Pays For 40 Pet Adoptions At Shelter For His Wife's 40th Birthday
- Parents Find Healing After Loss of Son By Donating His Beloved Key Collection To Little Boy
- Mom Dances With Son At His Wedding After Being Placed in Hospice Care 2 Weeks Before
- Grandmother and Young Granddaughter Battling Cancer At the Exact Same Time
- Community Brings Christmas Joy to Virginia Woman With Just Weeks to Live
- Four Friends Recreate A Fun Vacation Photo From 50 Years Ago
- School in Arkansas Mourns the Loss of Their Beloved Emotional Support Dog Abby
- 93-Year-Old Has Made Sure To Attend Every High School Football Game Since 1946
- Texas Mom Doesn't Remember Delivering Triplets After Rare Complication After Birth
- United Airlines Pilot Buys Pizza For 155 Passengers After They Make An Unexpected Stop
- Teenager With Down Syndrome Enjoys Playing Kickball After Parents Organize Neighborhood Game
- Woman in Shock After Finding Winning Lottery Ticket At the Bottom of Her Purse
- Australian Couple Walks Into Their Bedroom To Find the Cutest Koala
- 5 Boys and Their Father Were Saved By Good Samaritan After Explosion
- Daughter of WWII Soldier Finally Learns What Happened To Him, 80 Years Later
- Sisters Scream With Joy Watching Their 4-Year-Old Sister Take Her First Steps
- Her Mom Put a Message in a Bottle As a Child, 26 Years Later Her Classmate Found It
- This Missouri School Was Renamed After Their Much Loved and Dedicated Custodian
- Michael Strahan's Daughter is Now Cancer Free and Has Taught Him All About Perseverance
- These Two Newlyweds Found Love in Their Late 90s, After Meeting At Their Retirement Home
- Sisters Who Were Adopted By Separate Families Nearly 40 Years Ago Reunite After DNA Tests
- Oldest Living Person in the US Passes Away at 115, After a Long and Faithful Life
- At Just 20 and 22 Years Old, These Two Sisters From Minnesota Saved Their Family Farm
- After Over 450 Days in a Shelter, Boone and Rellie Find Their Forever Home, Together
- Sweet Kitten Named Coraline Loses Both Her Eyes, but Inspires Many with Her Spirit
- Donny Osmond Sees the 'End of the Tunnel' Coming After Performing for Over 6 Decades
- An Iguana Hitches a Ride on a Garbage Truck in Tennessee, Now Trying to Find Its Owner
- 6-Year-Old Starts 'Poop Scooping' Business to Help Animals and Adopt One of His Own
- Bride's Dad Drops During Father-Daughter Dance, but Things Lined up Perfectly to Save His Life
- Young North Carolina Father Risked His Life To Save a Couple and Dog From a Sinking Truck
Top Music Videos
The Statler Brothers 'Til the Storm Passes By' The Statler Brothers Live Performance
Jeremy Camp Jeremy Camp 'Ready Now' Powerful Official Music Video
Kari Jobe Kari Jobe - Revelation Song
Anne Wilson Anne Wilson’s Powerful Live Performance of 'The Cross'
Mark Schultz 'Different Kind of Christmas' - Live From Mark Schultz
Blogs
At GodTube, you’ll find daily inspirational videos to lift your spirits and encourage you in your walk with God. Popular videos include worship music from your favorite Christian artists, cute videos with adorable kids and animals, hilarious videos from Christian comedians, user-uploaded videos, and clean viral videos to brighten your day.