A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need. - Proverbs 17:17
Jesus is a perfect friend. We would do well to look at him as our model. First of all, Jesus is not a fair-weather friend. He is not in his friendships for what he can get out of them. Jesus always remains faithful, no matter how we treat him. Jesus washed the feet of his closest friends, the disciples, knowing that those very same feet would soon turn and run from him. He even washed the feet of Judas Iscariot, his betrayer (John 13:5, 10-11). Jesus, unlike the disciples, loved at all times. He truly fulfilled the proverb, “A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need” (Proverbs 17:17).
So what does that mean for me? It means listening to my friend patiently when she is struggling, instead of anxiously wanting to spend time on my own problems! It means looking after my friend’s children one more time, even when it’s inconvenient and I have a sneaking suspicion that she might be taking advantage of me. It means setting aside my plans for her plans. In other words, it means living a flexible life in order to allow God to plan my agenda on behalf of those who may need my time today. Proverbs 17:17 says, “A friend is always loyal.” Christ loved his friends like this. I must love mine the same way. A true friend stays friends!
For Further Study: Proverbs 17:1-28
Excerpted from The One Year Devotions for Women, Copyright ©2000 by Jill Briscoe. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
For more from Jill Briscoe, please visit TellingtheTruth.org.
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