Iron Sharpens Iron

During my devotional time, God instructed me to write about the importance of having Godly friends in our lives.  After he told me this, I started to reflect on my own life and all my wonderful friends and I had the biggest smile on because I know they are all God sent!

As I started to reflect on this topic, I began to realize that God truly honors friendships.  It is so imperative that we reflect over our lives and the people we associate ourselves with because the friends we hold dear to our hearts make a huge impact on our lives, whether we believe it or not.  Think about it, whenever something comes up in our lives, whether good or bad, we usually call our friends if we need some type of advice, guidance, or even if we just need an ear to listen.  When friends are open and available to do this for us, it is such an awesome feeling.  It is even greater if the friends we associate with are of the same faith.  In Proverbs 27:17 it says “as iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.”  When we have friends who have a relationship with Christ, they will be able to sharpen us with the Word of God as they give us advice.  They will not give us advice based off of what they feel is correct, but they will give guidance through what they know aligns with the Word of God.  These are the best type of friends to have.  Friends who you know will pray for you even if you call them in the middle of the night with an issue,  those who will be real with you and tell you when you are acting a fool and not afraid to tell you when your doing something that is clearly out of God’s will.  If you have a friend who says yes to everything you do and never is real enough to tell you when your off, then something is not right.  Sincere friends are able to speak the truth in love, even if that means that it may hurt you a bit.  Here in Proverbs 27:5-6 it says “An open rebuke is better than hidden love! Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.”  I love that I can say that I have friends who keep it 100% with me and let me know when I am acting a fool and I’m also glad to say that I’m that friend who keeps it real with them also.  People are sometimes afraid to be honest with friends in fear of loosing them, but honesty out of love shows that you care for them too much to see them fail.

Take a moment and think of the friendships that you have in your life.  They all play a major role in the way you think, act, and speak.  Your friends can either sharpen you, which is how Christ designed friendships to be, or their bad company can corrupt your good character (1 Corinthians 15:33).  If you’re looking over your life and feel like you don’t have any friends who can sharpen you, it’s ok! God did not forget about you! Instead, he is waiting for you to pray and ask him to send you the Godly friends that you need.  When I rededicated my life to Christ in July of 2011, I asked that God would send me more friends in my life who were radical for Christ and who would hold me accountable for my actions.  I cannot even describe how many new friendships that I have made since that prayer.  I know that they all are God sent and they are all lifetime friendships.  A lot of times we don’t have what we want because we fail to ask God for it.  I know it seems like a minor prayer, but it really isn’t.  Ask God to send you the friends that you need who will help you grow in your walk with Christ and who will hold you accountable for your actions.  God will honor that prayer because he is the person who designed for us to have these types of friendships!  If your reflecting over your life and you know that you have Godly friends that are God sent, don’t just stop there with a smile.  Go beyond that and pray for them, bless them with words of encouragement, and support them in their dreams and aspirations.  Don’t get comfortable with knowing that they will always be there, but show them that you value them, tell them that you love them and appreciate them.  I believe that friends who pray for one another only become closer, so never stop praying for them for strength, peace, love and joy. 

Friendships are a beautiful gift from God and I am learning that more and more everyday!  Cherish them all and don’t fail to only receive Godly friendships, be a Godly friend to yours also!