Women Friendships - Part 20

WHAT REAL FRIENDS ARE

A true friend is someone who helps you when the need is very great, jumping willingly into the fray, possibly suffering harm, just out of love and friendship.

In this respect, a true friend may prove more dependable than a real brother. Blood is supposed to be thicker than water, but many of us have experienced siblings who would rather not be bothered with our problems.

Some have found friends to compose a much better family than the one into which you were born. Such is the teaching of Proverbs 18:24 (NIV)—“There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

But wait . . . Proverbs has more to say:
Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.

Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of one’s friend springs from his earnest counsel.

Do not forsake your friend and the friend of your father. . . .
As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another (Proverbs 27:6, 9-10, 17, NIV).

It’s easy to remember those movies or books where the main character is fooled both by the kindness of an enemy and the effrontery of a friend. This is the whole plot of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Lear’s two older daughters tell him how much they love and honor him, when in reality they despise him. Meanwhile, his youngest daughter refuses to boast of her love for him, so he believes her to be a disloyal and unfaithful daughter. Therefore, he divides his kingdom between the older daughters but throws out the youngest. Later, the two older daughters betray him, depose him and put out his eyes. It is then that he realizes his folly and who it is who really loves him.

Sometimes friends can fool us, too, just like King Lear’s youngest daughter. For they are the ones who care enough to hurt our feelings if it means we will be better off for it. After all, who is going to tell you that your breath smells like a dog’s except your best friend or your worst enemy?