The Rewards of Friendship
Real friends are concerned about what you’re becoming. They look beyond the present and care deeply about you as a whole person.
Solomon wrote, ‘A man who has friends must himself be friendly’ And while building and maintaining that kind of friendship takes time and energy, the rewards far outweigh the investment.
True friends:
(1) Give you a hand up when you’re down. ‘Two are better off than one. They can help each other. If one falls, the other can reach out. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble’.
(2) Take the pressure off. No matter how much they love you and want to help, sometimes your family is just too close to be objective and it’s easier to open up to somebody you’re not related to.
(3) Make you laugh. Somebody said, ‘If you’ve no wrinkles, you haven’t laughed enough!’ When a good laugh is just what the doctor ordered, friends help you find humour in your situation – usually because they’ve been there!
As Hazel C. Lee says, ‘Laughing at ourselves as well as with each other, brings a surprising sense of togetherness.’
(4) Hold you accountable. Ever notice when you’re acting contrary to your values, it’s easy to fool yourself? That’s when ‘the slap of a friend can be trusted to help you’.