Friends

I thank you God for the friends I have that speak honestly to me. I thank God for the friends that foster my spiritual growth.  As E.C. McKenzie put it "Some people make enemies instead of friends, because it is less trouble." It takes very little effort to alienate the friends we already have. On the other hand finding and keeping a friend requires all the skill we can muster up, but the reward is great. Maintaining a good friendship is work but rewarding. How we chose to strengthen or weaken that friendship speaks to the value we place on that friendship. Friendships that we chose to nurture apply to all relationships in our live. Have I been encouraging spiritual growth in my relationships? Am I treasuring my special friends? Do they know that I care. Am I building my relationship with Christ

Proverbs 27

¹ Do not boast about tomorrow,
       for you do not know what a day may bring forth.  ² Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
       someone else, and not your own lips.
 ³ Stone is heavy and sand a burden,
       but provocation by a fool is heavier than both.
 ⁴ Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming,
       but who can stand before jealousy?
 ⁵ Better is open rebuke
       than hidden love.
 ⁶ Wounds from a friend can be trusted,
       but an enemy multiplies kisses.
 ⁷ He who is full loathes honey,
       but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.
 ⁸ Like a bird that strays from its nest
       is a man who strays from his home.
 ⁹ Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart,
       and the pleasantness of one's friend springs from his earnest counsel.
 ¹⁰ Do not forsake your friend and the friend of your father,
       and do not go to your brother's house when disaster strikes you—
       better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.
 ¹¹ Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart;
       then I can answer anyone who treats me with contempt.
 ¹² The prudent see danger and take refuge,
       but the simple keep going and suffer for it.
 ¹³ Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger;
       hold it in pledge if he does it for a wayward woman.
 ¹⁴ If a man loudly blesses his neighbor early in the morning,
       it will be taken as a curse.
 ¹⁵ A quarrelsome wife is like
       a constant dripping on a rainy day;
 ¹⁶ restraining her is like restraining the wind
       or grasping oil with the hand.
 ¹⁷ As iron sharpens iron,
       so one man sharpens another.
 ¹⁸ He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,
       and he who looks after his master will be honored.
 ¹⁹ As water reflects a face,
       so a man's heart reflects the man.
 ²⁰ Death and Destruction ^[a] are never satisfied,
       and neither are the eyes of man.
 ²¹ The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,
       but man is tested by the praise he receives.
 ²² Though you grind a fool in a mortar,
       grinding him like grain with a pestle,
       you will not remove his folly from him.
 ²³ Be sure you know the condition of your flocks,
       give careful attention to your herds;
 ²⁴ for riches do not endure forever,
       and a crown is not secure for all generations.
 ²⁵ When the hay is removed and new growth appears
       and the grass from the hills is gathered in,
 ²⁶ the lambs will provide you with clothing,
       and the goats with the price of a field.
 ²⁷ You will have plenty of goats' milk
       to feed you and your family
       and to nourish your servant girls.