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"The blessing of friends

Friends are valuable, one of the greatest blessings a man can have.

Friends can sometimes be closer to each other than those to whom they are related by blood (family physical).
What the Bible has to say about friends?

I. CHOOSING FRIENDS.

A. We should seek genuine, true friends, instead of "good times" friends. "Wealth maketh many friends, but the poor from his friend leaves him" Proverbs 19:4.
B. We must be aware that our friends have on us. "Walk with the wise and thou shalt be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed" Proverbs 13:20.
C. We must seek friends who will make us better people. "As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend" Proverbs 27:17.
D. We should avoid those that have a negative influence on our character. "Make no friendship with an angry man, nor walk with the man angry, not to learn his ways and get a snare to thy soul" Proverbs 22:24-25.

II. PRODUCING FRIENDS.

A. Friendships should be reciprocal in nature. "The man who has many friends may congratulate yourself, but there is a friend closer than a brother" Proverbs 18:24.
B. Do not make a "plague" of himself. "Get your foot in your neighbor's house, lest they enfade of you and hate you" Proverbs 25:17.
C. Develop a forgiving attitude toward others. "He who covers an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends" Proverbs 17:9.
D. Helping others in times of need. "In every age loves the friend, and a brother is born in anguish" Proverbs 17:17.

III. MAINTAINING THE FRIENDSHIPS.

A. Do not gossip about your friends. "A perverse man raises strife, and a whisperer separates close friends" Proverbs 16:28.
B. Do not betray the trust of his friend. "Trust in a faithless man in a time of trouble is like a broken tooth and a foot out" Proverbs 25:19.
C. Avoid offensive conduct. "As a madman who sparks, arrows, and death, so is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, I was only joking" Proverbs 26:18-19.
D. Do not engage in financial affairs of his friend. "My son, if you have become surety for thy friend, if in your hand to the stranger, enredaste you with the words of thy mouth, prendeste you with the words of thy mouth" Proverbs 6:1-2.

CONCLUSION:
1. When friendships are properly chosen, produced and preserved, friends can be one of the most valuable of all blessings a man can have.

Site reference: www.opregadorfiel.blogspot.com