Friendship and Faithful Words

What it means

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. The second line explains the first: the test of the relationship is trouble.

Why every Christian should know it

It reframes friendship as something proved rather than felt. You find out what you have when things go wrong.

Cross references

• Proverbs 18:24
• Ruth 1:16-17
• Job 6:14

Pray it back

Lord, make me the sort of friend who is still there when it costs something.

What it means

Better are the wounds of a friend than the kisses of an enemy. The proverb accepts that honest words can hurt and says the hurt is still love.

Why every Christian should know it

It gives you permission to speak plainly to someone you love, and to receive it when the plain word comes to you.

Cross references

• Proverbs 27:5
• Galatians 6:1
• Psalms 141:5

Pray it back

Lord, give me courage for honest words and humility for the ones I need to hear.

What it means

Jesus says greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. He says it hours before doing it, and he calls his disciples friends in the same conversation.

Why every Christian should know it

It sets the ceiling for friendship and tells you where the pattern came from. Christian friendship imitates the friend who died.

Cross references

• John 15:14-15
• Romans 5:8
• 1 John 3:16

Pray it back

Lord Jesus, you called me friend and laid down your life. Teach me to love like that in small ways.