“Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend” (Proverbs 27: 17 KJV).
God chose our family, but He lets us choose our friends. And because friends can be the reason for our uprisings and our downfallings, we must choose our friends wisely. People choose their friends for different reasons. Some people choose as their friends those they think they can lord over, intimidate, and manipulate to their advantage. They make friends of those who will serve them but who they will not serve. People make friends with the rich but not so much with the poor (Pro. 14: 20; 19: 7).
There are those who say they are our friends and then there are our true friends. A true friend cares about us and loves us to the very end — “A friend loveth at all times” (Pro. 17: 17). A true friend will stick with us when our own brother forsakes us — “There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother” (Pro. 18: 24). A true friend would rather wound us with their scathing rebuke than to lose us to some sinful habit — “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful” (Pro. 27: 6). “To love another in such a way that you can not bear to see a stain upon him, and to speak painful truth through loving words, that is true friendship” — H. W. Beecher
A Christian should choose their friends wisely. The Psalmist said, “I am a companion (friend) of all them that fear thee (God), and of them that keep thy precepts” (Ps. 119: 63). We should choose as our friends those we will be with for eternity.
If we are a true friend, then we will invest in the life of our friends and help them grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. A person is friendly when they show their ability to attach themselves to another with similar sentiments of affection towards likes and dislikes. Friendship means identity in thought, heart, and spirit. Such friendships are rare on earth. A worthwhile friend will change us for the better through our friendship with them. A worthless friend will drag us down to ruin.
Iron is sharpened with like iron. A good friend that is of like or equal strength in personality will, through teaching and conversation, help develop our character, and sharpen our mind and our countenance (or give the look of dignity to our countenance through their wisdom) — “A man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his shall be changed” (Ecclesiastes 8: 1).
If your friends are not fulfilling their role, maybe you should find some better friends. But we should also make sure others are better for our friendship. They are if we are friends with Jesus, and we are sharing with them what we learn through His friendship.
