A FAITHFUL FRIEND? Years ago before I met my husband and I was still a baby in Christ, I dated a very nice, moral man; but he was not a Christian. We were not equally yoked. A true friend told me I should not be dating him. She told me I was wrong and this relationship would never work. Of course, I got mad. “Who does she think she is?!” “She has no right to tell me what to do!!” I began praying and seeking God, and sure enough, she was right and God was using her to speak to me. What I realized later was that she was a good and faithful friend steering me from a path of destruction.
Proverbs 27:6 “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are lavish and deceitful.”
A good friend tells you what you don’t want to hear, when you don’t want to hear it, just because you need to hear it. A good friend prays for you and sees things that you are quite often blind to. A good friend cares more about you than to let you wander down that path of destruction and just watch. A good friend doesn’t care if they hurt your feelings or if you don’t like your medicine; they’re going to force it down your throat.
A good friend cries when you cry, laughs when you laugh, mourns when you mourn and always has your best interest in their heart. Here’s the hard part, how you handle their correction will tell how good of a friend that you are. Fast forward a few years and I had a chance to correct a friend that was married and flirting with another man. I sat her down and lovingly told her she was wrong and headed down a path of destruction. She stopped talking to me and spent more time with people who encouraged her behavior. She is no longer serving the Lord.
“WHOEVER LOVES instruction and correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is like a brute beast, stupid and indiscriminating.”
Proverbs 12:1 AMPC
Let a friend lovingly correct you, they care for your soul. It is not easy to bring correction to a friend. I never enjoy it and it takes everything within me to confront someone in their sin. I don’t like it. It is difficult. Most do not like it and it pains them to have to correct a wandering brother or sister but they are intervening on your behalf and want what’s best for you. And yes, 28 years later, I am still good friends with the lady who corrected me.
To Learn More About Pastor Crystal please visit the Leadership Page
