Qualities Of A Godly Friend

Proverbs 27:17, "As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend."

Have you ever had a really good friend?

As I look back over the years of my life, I see how I've had different groups of friends at different seasons in my life. Do you ever notice the different roles friends play in your life? There are the "Facebook Friends". Some friends are the people you can be goofy with. Your conversations may not go deep, but you can enjoy time with one another just in playing games and watching movies together. Those friends are fun, but today I'd like to focus a little more on the friends that you share everything with. You share your deepest sorrows and your greatest joys with these people. When I think of my closest friends, I don't think of a large span of people. When I think of these people, there are two that come to mind.

Although it's easy to find a lot of people to spend time with, finding friends that you can connect with on the levels I'm talking about isn't quite as easy. These friends are few and far between. That's why when they enter your life, you don't take them for granted.

I've always been a really deep person. Ever since I can remember, I've tried to dig deeper than the surface to know who a person is and to be able to share deeper about who I am.

This year, God blessed me with one of my closest friends, Hannah. The other close friend I have is someone I've had in my life forever. She is my mom.

These two women speak life into my life

Proverbs 27:17 tells us, "As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend."

What are the qualities about these two friends of mine that make them my closest friends?

• They love God.

These two friends of mine share the number one quality that is vital to the advice they'll give me and the way they will view life. They love God. They don't have a Sunday morning box relationship with God. Although they aren't perfect (praise the Lord, or I'd be in trouble), they are striving every day to follow God and go where He leads them.

• They invest in my life.

I am not sure if this investment in my life is simply so important to me because I am a "time and attention" girl or not, but I believe that any healthy friendship regardless of that love language requires a great deal of investment. Friendships that are healthy require maintenance. They require work. However, that work seems so small in comparison to the joy the friendships bring.

• They don't just tell me what I want to hear. They tell me the truth... in love.

If either of these women notice that I am about to head down a road that they know is going to be harmful to me, they won't sit back and say nothing. They will let me know "danger!!!" lies ahead. Even if initially I don't come across as being grateful for their wisdom, when time passes and I look back, I then truly appreciate them having my best interest at heart.

Although I'm sure we could add many more qualities that a godly friend has, I'd like to end with this one:

• They encourage me to come up higher in my walk with God and to be more like Jesus.

Both of these women are so encouraging to me when it comes to helping me grow in my walk with God. One of the things I admire most is that they cause me to want to come up higher. They talk in ways that cause me to think, "I want to view people more like that... less judgmental and more understanding." "I want to be more content about situations and see how I can enjoy my life no matter my circumstances."

These four qualities make up the relationships I have with these two people, and I'm so grateful for these friends. It's such a blessing to me that as iron sharpens iron, these friends are sharpening me.

Dear Heavenly Father,

I'm so grateful for the godly friends that You've placed in my life. It's encouraging to me that these people are sharpening me by encouraging me to be more like You. Thank You for putting these women on my path and allowing me to build relationship with them. Help me not just have godly friends. Help me be a godly friend. In every conversation, be glorified and help me speak Your truth into their lives. In Jesus' Name.

Amen.