Below you will find examples of good friendships from the Bible as well as verses about healthy friendships and false friendships. I hope a few of these really stick out for you and they become ones you hold tight. May this study help you reflect on your friendships!
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Biblical Examples of Friendship:
David and Jonathan – “as his own soul” (1 Samuel 18:1-3)Naomi and Ruth – “I will follow you” (Ruth 1:16-17)
Elijah and Elisha (2 Kings 2:2)
Job and his friends (Job 2:11)
Jesus and Peter – “I will lay down my life for you.” (John 36:37)
Friendship verses:
Choose wisely
Proverbs 12:26 - The righteous choose their
friends carefully,
but the way of the wicked leads them astray.
but the way of the wicked leads them astray.
Better than alone
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 - Two are better than
one,because they have a good return for their labor:
10 If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Affection
Romans 12:10 - Be devoted to one another in
love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Guidance
Proverbs 27:6 – (NLT) Wounds from a
sincere friend
are better than many kisses from an enemy.
Proverbs 11:14 - Wounds from a sincere friendare better than many kisses from an enemy.
are better than many kisses from an enemy.
Strength
Proverbs 27:17 - As iron sharpens iron,so one person sharpens another.
Advice
Proverbs 27:9 – (NLT) The heartfelt counsel
of a friendis as sweet as perfume and incense.
Not forsaken
Proverbs 27:10 - Do not forsake your friend
and your father's friend,
and do not go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity.
Better is a neighbor who is near
than a brother who is far away.
and do not go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity.
Better is a neighbor who is near
than a brother who is far away.
Partnership
Philippians 1:3 - I thank my God in all my
remembrance of you
Support
Romans 12:15 - Rejoice with those who
rejoice, weep with those who weep.
Encouragement
1 Thessalonians 5:11 - Therefore encourage
one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
Closeness
Proverbs 18:24 - A man of many companions
may come to ruin,but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Company
Proverbs 25:17 (MSG) - And when you find a friend, don’t
outwear your welcome; show
up at all hours and he’ll soon get fed up.
Unconditional love
Proverbs 17:17 - A friend loves at all
times,and a brother is born for a time of adversity.
False/Bad Friends
Reflect: would I want this friend for my
child, whom I care dearly for?
Bad morals
1 Corinthians 15:33 - Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”[
Worldly
James 4:4 - You adulterous
people,[a] don’t you
know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone
who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
Anger and wrath
Proverbs 22:24-25 - Do not make friends
with a hot-tempered person,
do not associate with one easily angered,
25 or you may learn their ways
and get yourself ensnared.
do not associate with one easily angered,
25 or you may learn their ways
and get yourself ensnared.
Liar, untrustworthy, insensitive
Proverbs 25:18-20 – (NLT) Telling lies about others
is as harmful as hitting them with an ax,
wounding them with a sword,
or shooting them with a sharp arrow.
is as harmful as hitting them with an ax,
wounding them with a sword,
or shooting them with a sharp arrow.
19 Putting confidence in an unreliable person in times of
trouble
is like chewing with a broken tooth or walking on a lame foot.
is like chewing with a broken tooth or walking on a lame foot.
20 Singing cheerful songs to a person
with a heavy heart
is like taking someone’s coat in cold weather
or pouring vinegar in a wound.
is like taking someone’s coat in cold weather
or pouring vinegar in a wound.
Gossip
Proverbs 16:28 - A troublemaker plants
seeds of strife;
gossip separates the best of friends.
gossip separates the best of friends.
Lack of knowledge (fool)
Proverbs 14:7 - Stay away from fools,
for you won’t find knowledge on their lips.
for you won’t find knowledge on their lips.
Harmful
Proverbs 13:20 - Whoever walks with the
wise becomes wise,
but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
Jesus’ Friendship - love, death, obedience, chosen
John 15:13-17 - Greater love has no one than
this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You
are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No
longer do I call you servants,[a] for the
servant[b] does not
know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I
have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You
did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and
bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the
Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These
things I command you, so that you will love one another.
C.S. Lewis quote
“Is any pleasure on earth as great
as a circle of Christian friends by a good fire?”
Which close friends would you choose to go on a week-long trip, stuck on a boat? :)
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