A True Friend

Preface: No. This is not a cliche post about how Jesus is your only “true friend”.

It might be a little mushy, but it’s not that….

Like I mentioned before in the entry about her shower, the best friend just got married. The wedding was beautiful. Hilarious. Wonderful. Successful.

And my daughter was an absolute doll, so how could it have been any less than awesome?!

It has really gotten me to thinking about friendship. What does it mean to be a true friend? What is it that makes my true friends and I so close?

There isn’t really one answer.

We have lots in common. By the grace of God, our circumstances brought us together—usually requiring us to somehow rely on one another at one point…

But something interesting I’ve been thinking….

Usually when you’re at a wedding, the story is going around of “When did you know?!”

I can answer that for Michael and I.

But I can’t really tell you the moment we became true friends. Kind of. But it wasn’t in one instance where I “just knew”.

I can’t tell you when each of my closest friends and I crossed into that difference in relationship.

Sometimes it just kind of happens…some rather quickly and in a fairly defined manner—others over a long period of time…

But no matter how, or when, or what brought us together, there is a commonality shared by all true friends.

A true friend is someone who treats you like family should.

Not everyone has a family that treats him or her with respect. Not every family is loyal or shares a deep relationship. But ideally, they should.

Friends are those that, even though they don’t have to out of obligation, would give up their comfort, their money, their plans for you.

Some people are able to develop this relationship with their families. Some aren’t.

Either way it’s a good thing to keep this in mind.

There are “friends” who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24)

I think we’ve all had and can identify those “friendships” that were just not good—but what does is mean to be a friend that sticks closer than a brother? Are you that reliable in your friendships?