The friendships we need

Rev Dwight Fletcher

Many times, our destiny is tied to our friendships – we are the average of our five closest friends. God uses friends to speak into our lives to transform us, and to help us walk in His plan for us. Every Christian needs people who can help us find spiritual strength in the Lord.

After David was anointed to be Israel’s next king, he became a war hero after killing Goliath, and Saul appointed him as commander of Israel’s army. The people loved him, and the women started to sing about him. “Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands!” 1 Samuel 18:7 (NLT). King Saul became jealous of David and decided to kill him, and the Scriptures say that, “While David was at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph, he learned that Saul had come out to take his life. And Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God.” 1 Samuel 23:15-16 (NIV). What did Jonathan do for David? He helped him find strength in God.

We need friends who will help us find spiritual strength. It doesn’t matter how mature we are, we get tempted, depressed, and come upon challenges that seem greater than us. We need friends that will always be there through thick and thin. Friends who will say “I’m with you. I’m not just going to pray for you but I’m going to pray with you. I’m going to strengthen you in the things of the Lord”. Do you have people who help you find spiritual strength? Not only do we need those friends, but we need to be that kind of friend.

Another kind of friend that we all need is one who will tell us the truth. David was a man after God’s own heart, and God was pleased with him. David took his eyes off the Lord and committed adultery. He killed Bathsheba’s husband in the process, and he didn’t see the gravityof what he had done. God sent Nathan to tell David the truth, and Nathan told David a story about a wealthy guy who had many sheep and cattle, and a poor guy who had only one lamb. Nathan said, “One day, a hungry traveller came along and the wealthy man didn’t use one of his own but took the poor guy’s only lamb and slaughtered it to give to the traveller”. The Scripture says: “David was furious. “ As surely as the Lord lives,” he vowed, “any man who would do such a thing deserves to die! He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity.” Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man!” 2 Samuel 12:5-7 (NLT). Nathan loved David enough to tell him the truth, and David saw what he hadn’t seen about himself before. David was broken-hearted before God. Psalm 51 is the repentance prayer he prayed after Nathan confronted him and told him the truth.

When was the last time a friend loved you enough to tell you, ‘don’t go there!’ ‘that’s wrong’, ‘you’re going to hurt your relationship with God’, or ‘you’re going to hurt your marriage’? Everybody needs that kind of friend.

We need to seriously consider how we choose our friends, because they can make or break us. Good friends help us to weather life’s storms and to confront the truth of who we are, and God uses them to bring about His will and to pull us into the destiny that He has for us.