Your friends foreshadow your fate. Show me your friends, and I’ll show your odds at ever finding wisdom.
Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
Proverbs 13:20
Part of the reason for this is that wise friends will tell you what you need to hear, while foolish friends will tell you only what you want to hear.
Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
Proverbs 27:6
Daniel Seabaugh understands these truths as he reflects on the gift of friends who know the Bible. He describes the delight and support to be found when you surround yourself with people who know and have courage to speak the Scripture into your life. Speaking such friends, Seabaugh writes:
When I watch them lead at work, home, and church, I’m encouraged to take Christ-like responsibility for my own life. Whether they realize it or not (and I think they get it), their lives display God’s power. When we acknowledge our weakness and invite Christ into those spaces, God shows up in mighty ways. I’ve seen it over and over in the lives of my friends.
