To Have A Friend Is To BE A Friend

Can two people walk together
    without agreeing on the direction?

Amos 3:3 

How do you chose your friends?  Are they TRUE friends or simply people you know? Are they wise and, thus, share their wisdom with you?  Will your friends pray with you and for you?  Will they encourage you to strive to improve or do they criticize you and put you down?

True friends WANT you to succeed just as you want them to succeed.  True friends won't always agree with you.  True friends are willing to tell you when you are about to do something stupid.  True friends laugh together.  True friends grieve together (though in their own way).  The fact of the matter is that TRUE friends are difficult for us to find these days because it is a relationship we must nurture so it will grow strong.

Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying: "If you wish to have a friend, you must BE a friend."  Are we willing to take the time to grow such a relationship?  It takes effort.  It takes patience.  And it may turn out that the friend you need is the unexpected person God brings into your life at just the right time.