What kind of friend are you?

By Todd Barrier  

As I mentioned last week, we have been discussing friends in our Bible class at church. The title of the class is simply “Friends.”  

We have spent time talking about the general things the Bible says about being a friend, choosing a friend and being grateful for your friends. This week, we looked at a tough aspect of being a friend: telling someone something they might not want to hear.  

We were looking at the story of David and Nathan from 2 Samuel 12. This is when God instructs Nathan to go to David and confront him about the sins in his life concerning Bathsheeba and Uriah.  

Nathan goes to David and tells him what he needs to hear – not necessarily what he wants to hear.  

The interesting part to me is when Nathan drops the bomb that David is the man he is describing in the story he is telling. Nathan doesn’t go straight to the sins in David’s life; he begins by reminding him of all the ways God has blessed him – and yet he still sinned against God.  

It was the fact that David hurt his relationship with God that made him repent of his sins.  

This is why we need friends as described in the Bible. We need friends who will tell us the truth, not just tell us what we want to hear.  

The repercussions of sin were there for David because of what he had done, but because of Nathan’s willingness to tell David the truth, no further damage took place.  

When we have friends, and when we are a friend, that helps guide each toward God, it is less likely we will be burdened later with the repercussions of sins that could have been avoided.  

Thank God for the biblical examples of what true friendship looks like. What kind of friend are you?