*sorry these have been coming in late this week*
A friend loves at all times,
And a brother is born for adversity.
Proverbs 17:17 New
American Standard Bible (NASB)
It is interesting to note
that the word friend here is related to the passage about Ruth and Naomi. Naomi
was Ruth’s mother in law, and after the men had died Naomi was going to return
home and told her daughters in law to stay with their parents. Ruth refused and
bound herself to Naomi, come what may. That is true friendship: loyalty no
matter what happens. “Brother” does not mean only a natural brother, but
someone we are close to, in bond not necessarily in blood. It carries the sense
that when two are bound together, as natural brothers would be, they are there
for a purpose, to help one another through a time of difficulty. This can
relate to the natural family or the church family, to anyone we are closely
connected to. A true friend who has brotherly love will be loyal and true,
helpful at all times, not just when times are good and easy. They will give
godly advice, and encourage the things that are right while lovingly correcting
what is wrong. Those friends can be hard to find. It important to say that
loyalty to a friend who is not a true friend to you or who encourages what is
wrong is misplaced loyalty. We need to be careful who are friends are. What kind
of friends do you have? Do they encourage you in your walk with God and stand
by you through thick and thin, or do they encourage worldly pleasure or avoid
you when times are hard? What kind of friend are you? Are you loyal and godly?
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Translations of Greek and Hebrew words taken from
blueletterbible.org
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