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Best Friends Forever

Dude, are friends important to you? They are to me! Friends are great to have.

Friends are like money--some are worth a lot, some aren't worth hardly anything.

At times it seems like friends are here for more than just our friendship. Those who use friendship for personal gain can really hurt us badly. When we really care about someone, it's easy to get burned.

If you're like me and you really care about real friendship, take a few minutes to check out some radical stuff I've learned about true friendship.

What does it mean to be a friend?

Webster's Dictionary describes friendship as, "one person attached to another by affection or esteem."

Nelson's Bible Dictionary says, "a friend is a person whom one loves and trusts; close companion or comrade."

When discussing true friendship, David and Jonathan in 1 Samuel 18:1-4 come to mind. The Bible says, "Now when David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father's house anymore. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt." The story of David and Jonathan is a perfect story of true friendship and a good example of how we should be as a friend to others.

The Bible teaches us in Proverbs 19:4, "Wealth makes many friends, but the poor is separated from his friend." Here we are dealing with the sad reality that we face in our lives daily. Friendship shouldn't be measured by the possessions we have. Let's make certain we don't make that the way we choose our friends.

Proverbs 22:11 says, "He who loves purity of heart and has grace on his lips, the king will be his friend." True friends can be trusted because they aren't playing games--their hearts are pure. Eternal friends live as Jesus lived.

True friends are those who are ready to forgive and be forgiven. A clear example of this is seen in 2 Corinthians 2:7-9, "you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him." True friends love one another and are there for one another during the good and bad times.

Proverbs 17:17 tells us a friend is someone who loves at all times. Bad moments when love seems hard to find may come, but love will be shown to a friend. John 15:13 says, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends."

Friendship with others is important, but having God as your friend, well that is pretty cool. God loves you and wants great things for you, but He wants you to live for Him. Gen 22:18 says, "And through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." Also in John 15:14-15 it says, "You are my friends if you do what I command. 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."

As you can see, friendship is an important thing. True friends can help make our life special and even help bring us closer to God, and closeness to God is where the forever blessings are.

As we look for friends, let's remember to look at the heart rather than things like money, good looks or personal accomplishments. Let's dig deep to see the true person beneath the surface. And let us remember that friendship with others can be great, but friendship with God is awesome!

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