Truest friend – as iron sharpens iron

By joannsblog2016 on February 11, 2020 • ( 0 )

Iron is sharpened by iron. One person sharpens another.
Proverbs 27:17

Do you have that one friend, one family member that speaks truth into you? That one person you can trust to be honest with you about both the good fruit and the bad fruit you are producing?

Some time ago, I recall having a conversation with my oldest daughter about friendships. In our conversation, we were discussing qualities of a good friend. One of those qualities was a friend that can be 100% honest with you in a loving, compassionate way about something that may convict you in your actions and words. When you find a friend like that, they are the truest friend that you can have, the friend you should never let go of. That friend is a living example of someone sharpening you to be the better version of yourself.

Sisters and brothers, none of us is perfect by any means and our short comings come in many shapes and sizes. Each of us need to hear those things that can improve who we are in this life. The person that is delivering that message to us is truly the face and voice of God. Not criticizing or judging us but identifying an area that needs pruning in the garden of our hearts.

Each of us is called to be that person for one another. The key is how we shed light on the areas that need a little tender love and care within our sisters and brothers. God gives us His love and mercy to pour out in these moments, so that we can be the instruments to lift the spirit of another from a path of darkness and sin, a path that is not leading them to who He created them to be. An easy task? Likely not for most of us. But God doesn’t always give us easy assignments. Those most challenging are those most rewarding. Being a true friend is one of those challenging, yet rewarding roles.

My kids often teach me little lessons. My youngest daughter recently told me, when we have issues or problems, there is a cloud covering our star. When this happens, we need to pause, take a breath, think of something positive and blow the cloud away so that the light within us can shine bright. I think that is exactly what a true friend helps us to do – blow the cloud away so that our true light can shine forth.

I am very fortunate to have a few of these beautiful friends in my life that I know will tell me when I am headed down a slippery slope. They will let me know when I have said or done something that may not have been the best approach. Most importantly they do it with love and compassion. These friends do not tell me what I would like to hear, they tell me the truth even when it hurts. Why? Because they love me and they don’t want me to make irreparable mistakes or regret my choices. These friends want me to be the best version of myself, they are here to help me become a saint. These friends are hand picked by God to help me prune the garden in my heart so that I can get to heaven.

Are you one of those friends to someone? If not, how can you be that person God is calling you to be, helping your sister or brother in need when they are headed on a path that isn’t aligned with His will?

This blog is dedicated to all those in my life that are the truest friends, helping me stay on the path of my faith and reflecting a heart that is a mirror of Christ within me. May you be surrounded in love and grace as you pour onto others.