We need ‘friends’ to make it through to the next stage of life.  Some of those individuals will remain friends for the rest of your life, others are there only for ‘a period of time’.   I have a couple friends that I don’t see very often, but when we do meet, we just take off from the last time we met.  Something we need to realize is that we have not been created to ‘do life’ on our own.  We have been designed to do life in the proximity and in relationship with other people, not in isolation.

A great question worth asking is ‘who is your good friend’ and, ‘are you’ a good friend?  It is one thing to have a friend, but it must be a two way relationship.  There are a number of verses in the Bible that suggest the importance of friendship:

• There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24)
• This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. (John 15:13 msg)
• Proverbs 12:26 (NLT) 26 The godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray.
• Proverbs 22:24-25 (MSG) Don’t hang out with angry people; don’t keep company with hotheads.
• Bad temper is contagious—don’t get infected.
• Proverbs 27:17 (MSG) You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another.

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