FRIENDSHIP PT.3 Characteristic Features of the People around Us

 

We are continuing with our series on friendship. And in this article which represents the third of our series, we want to delve into one of the characteristic features of the people around us so as to be informed in our choice of friendship. It is important to note that, the people we meet in the path of life either contributes positively or negatively to our lives

Characteristic Feature 1: The Value Adding People

These are the group of people who consciously add value to your life. The Bible talks about them in Ecclesiastes 4:10; they lift you up when you are down. Characteristics of this group include the following:

• They build you up with wise counsel and biblical values. The scripture compares their counsel to perfume and incense (Prov. 27:9)
• They intercede for you. (Job 16:20, Dan. 2:11-19)
• Their presence in your life brings much joy and sanity. Friends stay with you in times of trouble but good friends keep you out of trouble
• They are faithful friends and they love at all times (Prov. 17:17)
• They support you at all times. In times of adversity, they comfort you. (Job 2:11) As the cliché says, “best friends make the good times better and the hard times easier.”
• They bring you closer to God and sharpen your faith (Prov. 27:17
• They support you in your dreams and aspirations and genuinely celebrate with you in your achievements.
• They bring out the best in you. They encourage you in self, social, financial and spiritual development among several others
• Simply put, these people make your life better.

These friends are gifts from God, and when found they must be closely held on to. In Ruth 1:16-17, we find Ruth telling Naomi, “…don’t urge me to leave you or turn back from you. Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die and, there I will be buried…” (NIV). Ruth, who had been widowed at a younger age finally found a good husband through her devotion and obedience to the counsel of her best friend whom she found in her mother-in-law, Naomi.

A similar level of faithfulness is also seen in 2 kings, when Elisha stayed glued to Elijah until he was taken up to heaven. In verse 6, he told his ‘master-friend’, “as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not live you” (NIV). True to his words, he stayed with his master to the end and received a double portion of his anointing as a result. After that day, with Elijah, his life never remained the same.    

Good friends do not only edify us, they make our lives beautiful.  

Read other characteristic features in our next series.

Written By: Michael Aboagye