It shapes your character and reputation—for the good.
| posted 1/30/2009
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"As iron sharpens iron" (27:17), a good friend will challenge what you think and even who you are. As you test yourself against each other, you rub away those qualities that are loose and weak. What's left is even stronger than when you began. You sharpen each other in thought and in character.
A second image this proverb supplies about friendship is the mirror. When you look in your mirror, you expect to see your own face. As you look close into your own eyes, you can almost read your thoughts. But how startling it'd be to look in your mirror some sleepy morning and see instead the thoughts of your friend. That's how influential friendship is! For good or for bad, we rub off on each other.
The best friendships are those where both persons are strong in their faith and they encourage each other to grow stronger in it. This takes work, but when you nurture friendships, you benefit from having someone to share with and receive helpful correction from. The key to good friendships is mutuality—mutual respect, mutual independence, mutual caring, and mutual submission.
Choose friends who sharpen you in good ways, instead of cutting you to pieces. And provide the same service for your friends. (See also Ruth 1-4; Proverbs 17:17; 18:24; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8; James 5:13-20.)
Good Words to Remember:
As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend …. As in water face reflects face, so a man's heart reveals the man. Proverbs 27:17, 19
Today's Challenge:
How do your friends "sharpen" you?
Copyright 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Christian Bible Studies.
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