Archive for January 2023

Pro. 27:10 Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend, nor go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity; better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away. Regardless of one’s culture, the instutution of family carries some common characteristics for all.  This might escape us in our modern…

Pro. 22:24-25 Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare. This particular translation of these verses gives us a bit more insight into the kind of person we need to avoid in friendship.  Other translations refer to…

Pro. 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. My countenance is my face.  When I come to someone else’s mind, I expect that it is similar to when others come to my mind.  Thinking of the image of a person, we think of the person’s face.  After all,…

Pro. 27:9 Ointment and perfume delight the heart, and the sweetness of a man’s friend gives delight by hearty counsel. I think we all know that scents and smells have the power to change one’s mood.  For example, the aroma of fresh cookies baking in the oven can put a smile on anyone’s face.  Likewise,…

Pro. 16:28A perverse man sows strife, and a whisperer separates the best of friends. People become friends because they have something in common. When I was a child, my friends were the kids who liked to play the games I liked to play. In middle school and high school, my friends and I shared the…

Pro. 17:9 He who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates friends. The picture of forgiveness that we get from God’s example is one of a total reset.  When we think about how He separates us from our sin through repentance, and to what degree that occurs, the metaphor is…

Pro. 27:6Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. The course of a friendship should be a natural progression from the strange to the familiar. When two people first get to know one another, there is a lot to learn. Then, as they spend more time together and…

Pro. 22:11 He who loves purity of heart, and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend. I recently had a conversation with someone who said that he has only one good friend. The reason this conversation began is that he wanted to know why this is the case. While it is…

Pro. 18:24 A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Some people see life as a popularity contest. Perhaps this comes from the fact that childhood and adolescence can be like this for many people. If we regularly see those who are well-known…