Is your friend good for you?
Choosing a good friend is so important
Are you good at choosing your friends? I used to have a problem with wanting to be friends everyone. This isn’t always good because some people don’t always have your best interest at heart. Recently, I’ve had to end friendships with with people that I have known for a long time.
I’m not going to go into details but they hurt me one too many times. Having Hashimoto’s Disease (thyroid issue) and the stress of these friendships was making me even more sick. This is when I decided to reevaluate my friendship.
Friendship isn't about who you've known the longest.
It's about who walked into your life
and said, "I'm here for you" and proved it.
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Coming up with a list of good qualities in a friend
I sat down and started thinking about qualities that make a great friend. These attributes are the ones that are important to me. You need a friend who…
- puts God first
- lifts me up
- finds out the truth first instead of blaming
- talking behind my back isn’t an option
- judging me never happens
- isn’t jealous or doesn’t try to make me jealous
- includes everyone in the group
- sends me scripture when I am down
- prays for me
- forgives me
- apologizes when they are wrong
- being right isn’t a priority
- doesn’t act better than me
- can’t stand manipulation
- is a good influence
- keeps your secrets
Verses to go by when choosing a friend
Next, I made a commitment to God that I would try my best to acquire these same qualities. When I mess up I will apologize because that is what a true friend does. This is what the Bible says about friendship. It validated how I felt about friends that didn’t have my best interest at heart and ones that do.
1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
1 John 4:11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Luke 6:31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
Colossians 3:12-14 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
James 4:11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister[a] or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.
Proverbs 16:28 A perverse person stirs up conflict and a gossip separates close friends.
Philippians 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.
More qualities from the Bible
These are just a few verses that talk about friendships in the Bible. This is when I added a few more qualities that I came across when I read these verses. Friends show compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience and above all, love one another. Friendships should be cherished.
Someone who makes you feel bad about yourself is not a true friend. Pray to God about who might need to be removed from your life and who needs to be inserted to your life. God cares about you and will send a good friend if you pray about it. Friendships should never be forced or faked. Try gauging your friendships by what the Bible says so you can a true connection with a friend who really cares about you.
FRIENDS BECOME OUR CHOSEN FAMILY
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