True Friendship

Devotional for 11.21.11 

Let’s turn to Proverbs chapter 19 together so we can get wisdom that goes beyond the gold!

TRUE FRIENDSHIP

Wealth attracts many friends, but even the closest friend of the poor person deserts them.

Proverbs 19:4

*Sally was the new girl in our small fourth grade class. There was nothing beautiful or winsome about her. She smelled. She didn’t fit in. Thinking back on the way she dressed and the language she used, I shudder to think of what must’ve been going on in her life outside the protection of our school. Yet for a minute or two, first thing in the morning, she was the most popular child on the playground. That’s because Sally had access to candy – ring pops, candy necklaces, bubble gum, and more. She’d come with a pocketful; first come, first serve. Like a swarm of bees we gathered around Sally until the last piece of candy was dispersed. Then just as quickly as we congregated, we scattered, savoring her treats, but rejecting her. It breaks my heart to this day as I wonder whatever happened to Sally.

What took place on our school playground is not unique or isolated. In Proverbs 19:4 and 7 we learn, Wealth attracts many friends, but even the closest friend of the poor person deserts them. The poor are shunned by all their relatives – how much more do their friends avoid them! Though the poor pursue them with pleading, they are nowhere to be found.

The wealthy have many friends, the poor has a friend.  It’s a sad commentary on the reality of human relationships. Left to the natural inclination of our sinful hearts, we’re attracted to people who have things we want – whether that’s resources, opportunities, or position. If our primary goal in seeking a friend is what we will gain, then the flip side of the coin is that those who lack resources will be bankrupt of friends as well.

Who are your and my friends? Do we love them for who they are or what they can do for us? Do we choose friends based on their Christ-like character or out of mere convenience? Are our relationships sacrificial or self-seeking?  

1 Corinthians 13 wisely points us to what true friendship looks like: Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, doesn’t have a swelled head, doesn’t force itself on others, isn’t always “me first,” doesn’t fly off the handle, doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, doesn’t revel when others grovel, takes pleasures in the flowering of truth, puts up with anything, trusts God always, always looks for the best, never looks back, but keeps going to the end (MSG).

Wisdom Step: Think about your closest friends. What is the motivation for choosing them as friends? How can you love them the way God loves you?   

We can’t be stingy about the way we love people;

go for broke.

Bob Goff

*Name has been changed.