The Value of a Good Friend
—
I’ve heard this truism many times in my ministry career. It is voiced when someone has just been through a very difficult time of illness or loss. The statement goes something like this: “I don’t know how I could have made it through were it not for my friends.”
We have a plaque at our home that says, “One of God’s greatest blessings in having good friends.” I enjoy seeing the plaque as a reminder of the friend who gave it to us. It also reminds me of the true blessing of friendship.
Friends are a precious gift. Our friends take the time to show us they care and lift us up when we are down.
A good friend is willing to stand beside us when we need support, and they celebrate with us when we experience joy.
Our closest friends value us as our authentic selves. They provide the space we need to process matters we need to think it through. But they are also there to lend a compassionate, listening ear if we just need to talk it out loud.
Our best friends speak the truth to us in love and are willing to forgive our faults. But they also challenge us to become the best versions of ourselves.
True friends remain faithful through the years, they’re always willing to lend a hand, and the mere mention of their name gives a lift to our spirits.
It has been said that “A friend divides our sorrows and multiplies our joys.” How true!
As I grow older, I have come to see the full value of having a good friend. Any talk, visit, meal, card, letter, or phone call I share with a dear friend is a treasure indeed.
I have come to realize of late that friends of our faith community are God’s way of expressing abundant love in our lives. Each friend that I can name is truly a gift from God above.
In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis writes, “(Christ) works on us in all sorts of ways… he works on us through nature, through our own bodies, through books, sometimes through experiences… But above all, he works on us through each other.” C.S. Lewis knew the true value of friends and spoke often of how his life and writings had been greatly influenced by his friends.
God’s word has a thing or two to say about friends as well. In Proverbs 17:17 we read, “A friend loves at all times.” Proverbs 18:24 says, “Some friends play at friendship, but a true friend sticks closer than one’s nearest kin.” In John 15:12-15 Jesus is quoted as saying, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends…”
In the Apocrypha from the book of Sirach 6:14-16 we read these wonderful words about friends and friendship: “Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter: whoever finds one has found a treasure. Faithful friends are beyond price; no amount can balance their worth. Faithful friends are life-saving medicine; and those who fear the Lord will find them.”
Let’s cultivate friendships. Here are a few suggestions: take the initiative to write or call an old friend. Invite a friend to lunch or dinner. Go to a concert together. Take a slow walk together in the cool of the day. Always remember Birthdays. Remember Anniversaries, too. And yes, include remembering the anniversary of the loss of their spouse or loved one. All of these suggestions will endear you to your friend and bond your lives together.
Let’s celebrate the blessing of friendship in our lives. Our friends indeed are a precious gift from God.
You are loved! – R. Mark Green
R. Mark Green
Pastor to Senior Adults and Youth & Children’s Music