As the preacher’s kid, I often received invitations to different family homes between morning and evening service on Sundays. I would play with the girls, have a meal, and then return to church. I thought of these girls as my friends. I thought of one girl in particular as my best friend. She would invite me, my sisters, and a few other girls from church to do things. But one day, my eyes were opened when a situation happened; she even participated and did not stand up for me. I realized she was not my friend and probably was never my friend. I was only invited all those times because her mother had hopes of my “goodness” and good manners influencing her daughter to be a better Christian with a friend like me in her life. God gave me a better friend who stood up for me in a high school hallway.
I often wonder how the disciples felt when they realized that Judas was the one who betrayed Jesus. They had all seen Jesus perform miracles and even helped facilitate some of them. Judas had sat with them as Jesus taught them. Judas even had meals and had been a part of their life experiences. Jesus had been a friend to Judas. Jesus looked Judas in the face many times, knowing that Judas would be the catalyst for his death. Jesus still showed him love and kindness till the very moment that Judas made the final decision to accept those thirty pieces of silver. Jesus knew at the Last Supper what Judas was about to do and had done before he even sat down at the table (Matthew 26:25). Jesus could have made Judas’s plot known and stopped him, but Jesus did not. He sat at the table and broke bread with the betrayer.
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven for he maketh his sun to rise on evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans do so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven perfect? Matthew 5:43-48
Life is hard, and having a friend to share our lives with is a blessing, especially if they believe in our almighty God. We need to discern what type of people we associate with in our lives. The wrong friend can use peer pressure to lead us to do wrong against God and to hell.
He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. Evil pursueth sinners: but to the righteous good shall be repaid. A good man leave to an inheritance to his children’s children and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. Proverbs 15:20-22
Make no friendship with an angry man; and with furious man thou shalt not go: Lest thou learn his ways and get a snare to thy soul. Proverbs 22:24-25
The best advice I ever received as a teenager, which is still true today in my old age, is to pray to see if their character and spirit align with the Holy Spirit. I pray that God also helps me to be a true friend to the people in my life so that I may be a witness for Christ.
Prove all things: hold fast that which is good. 1 Thessalonians 5:21
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you except ye be reprobates? 2 Corinthians 13:5
Examine me, O LORD; and prove me; try my reins and my heart. Psalms 26:2
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