WHO IS YOUR FRIEND? Pt 1

There are people we call our friends who are in no way our friends. They are more of exploitative, superior and taking advantage of your kindness. Many times we’ve found ourselves asking questions about how we got entangled in a ‘so called’ friend’s spell and why we find it so difficult to break-free from them. This is not about the people we have as friends but more about our friendship but they take you for granted and you are always hurt. It sometimes gets to a point where living without those friends is the solution to our problems. Mind you, friendship has nothing to do with race, shape, age, religion etc or something we lay too much emphasis on. Jesus showed us a typical example of friendship when He walked the earth. He was always with His disciples and He never for once used their weaknesses to mock them. No! He taught and showed them perfect love. That should be our mirror of friendships. Some people say “Be a friend and you’ll find a friend”. Do you think that’s true? Some people show their friends how much they love them only for those friends to treat them like maids; those who only run errands for them.

What are the qualities of a friend?

There are so many qualities to look for in someone before calling them your friend. Below are six of them;

A friend loves and cares about your well-being: Your friend checks on you even after being separated from you for a while. They could call, text, or email you to know how you’re doing. When you call them they listen keenly and always try to be there for you. Social media has even facilitated it somehow. Through facebook we are able to meet our old friends and know how they have been. We can Skype with one another even when we are away from each other.

A friend rebukes you when you are wrong: This is another way to know if the person you called a friend really is a friend. When you are wrong, does your friend rebuke you nicely or does he/she hurl insults at you and in some cases say very nasty things about you and your background. Friends rebuke in love to build you and help you become a better you.

Friends are honest with one another: When friends are honest with one another, the enemy hardly finds room to break between you two with gossip, jealousy, criticism etc. A friend who kindly tells you, you have bad breath and joins you to find a solution is better than the one who doesn’t acknowledge you have bad breath but twists her face when you talk. When you are doing what is wrong which you don’t seem to realize, your friend tells you that what you are doing is wrong and gives you reason to see where you are wrong.