You may be someone who only has a few friends. Maybe you have lots of friends. (Your Facebook friend count doesn’t count.) Regardless of the number of people who you consider to be your friends, and regardless even of what kind of friends you have, what kind of friend are you?
Scripture teaches us, “A man who has friends must himself be friendly” (Prov. 18:24). Regarding true friends, the Bible says, “A friends loves at all times” (17:17), and “there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (18:24). Regarding the closeness of some friends who feel like brothers, God says, “A brother (i.e., a true, real friend) is born for adversity” (17:17). What kind of friend are you?
Are you the kind of friend who always has to have your way? Think about that. Are you? If you say “no,” when was the last time that you yielded to your friend’s wishes on something meaningful and were ok with it?
Are you the kind of friend who always gets your feelings hurt if your “friends” don’t see things your way? Can you believe that someone who cares for you might have a different perspective on something than you do?
Are you the kind of friend who expects others to do things for you? How often do you anticipate being on the “receiving” end of good deeds, while you are rarely the one on the “doing” end of good deeds?
Are you the kind of friend who demands that others promptly say “Thank you” for every little thing that you do? Do you practice that yourself, or are others really just expected to do things for you without a sign of gratitude?
OR…Are you the kind of friend who looks out for the needs and wants of your friends? Do you try to anticipate when they might need something and what it might be, and then try to be the one who supplies that need through totally selfless measures?
Are you the kind of friend who understands that everything doesn’t revolve around you? In fact, are you the kind of friend who tries to make your friends feel like things revolve around them?
Are you the kind of friend who is polite, courteous, grateful, humble, sacrificial, generous, flexible, dependable and honest? Most importantly, is there any resemblance to the way that you treat and respond to your friends and the way that Jesus would treat and respond to your friends? Is there anything about you as a friend that should be changed to more suitably resemble the kind of friend Jesus would be?
In this self-centered, self-gratifying world in which we live, what kind of friend are you? Including to your spouse?