My Friends | Healthy Relationships
HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS
My Friends…
1 Chronicles 27:33 (ESV) 33 Ahithophel was the king’s counselor, and Hushai the Archite was the king’s friend.
Proverbs 17:17 (NLT) 17 A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.
John 15:13-15 (NIV) 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 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.
Loyalty: a strong commitment and devotion to a person, cause, or ideal. It can also mean being faithful and steadfast in the face of temptation.
Friend: One who is attached to another by affection; one who entertains for another sentiments of esteem, respect and affection, which lead him to desire his company, and to seek to promote his happiness and prosperity; opposed to foe or enemy. (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary)
Acquaintance: A person one knows slightly, but who is not a close friend.
Who was your best friend growing up?
“The only way to have a friend is to be one.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Soul Tattoo: Lifelong friendships are built on loyalty but crumble under betrayal.
Friendship Killers:
- Betrayal: When trust is broken.
Friendships crumble when trust turns into treachery.
Psalm 41:9 (NIV) 9Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me.
Matthew 26:14-16 (ESV) 14 Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.
Matthew 26:47-50 (ESV) 47 While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.” 49 And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” And he kissed him. 50 Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him.
- Gossip: When words wound.
Gossip destroys what trust builds.
Proverbs 16:28 (NIV) 28A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.
Judges 16:18-21 (ESV) 18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up again, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. 19 She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. 20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him. 21 And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison.
- Jealousy: When comparison replaces celebration.
A jealous heart poisons a good friendship.
Proverbs 27:4 (NIV) 4Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?
1 Samuel 18:6-9 (ESV) 6 As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments. 7 And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” 8 And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?” 9 And Saul eyed David from that day on.
Soul Tattoo: Lifelong friendships are built on loyalty but crumble under betrayal.
Healthy Friendships:
1. A healthy friendship is built on loyalty.
True friends stand with you, not just around you.
Proverbs 17:17 (NIV) 17A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
1 Samuel 18:1-4 (NLT) 1After David had finished talking with Saul, he met Jonathan, the king’s son. There was an immediate bond between them, for Jonathan loved David. 2 From that day on Saul kept David with him and wouldn’t let him return home. 3 And Jonathan made a solemn pact with David, because he loved him as he loved himself. 4 Jonathan sealed the pact by taking off his robe and giving it to David, together with his tunic, sword, bow, and belt.
2. A healthy friendship encourages spiritual growth.
Real friends push you toward God, not away from Him.
Proverbs 27:17 (NIV) 17As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
3. A healthy friendship endures through trials.
Trials reveal real friendships.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NIV) 9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: 10 If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.
Soul Tattoo: Lifelong friendships are built on loyalty but crumble under betrayal.
Jesus and friendship:
- Jesus invited people into relationship.
John 15:15 (NIV) 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends…
- Jesus modeled selfless love in friendship.
John 15:13 (NIV) 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
- Jesus extended grace to everyone, even betrayers.
Matthew 26:50a (ESV) 50 Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.”
- Jesus shows that we can be friends with God.
John 15:14 (NIV) 14 You are my friends if you do what I command.
Soul Tattoo: Lifelong friendships are built on loyalty but crumble under betrayal.