Friendship is one of the greatest gifts in all of life. We all value friendship, but in our modern world, we’ve lost sight of what friendship really means. It’s now tragically possible to have thousands of “friends” on social media, but not ONE true friend. So, how can we tell if someone is truly our friend? How can we know when we’re truly being a friend to someone?
This simple list below isn’t comprehensive, but after observing some of the strongest friendships on earth and researching timeless relationship principles in the Bible, I’m convinced that EVERY healthy friendship has these seven traits:
1. Friends can disagree without losing respect for each other.
Especially in a political season, we see people taking sides and writing off anyone who doesn’t share their opinions. True friendship is stronger than differences in perspective or opinion. Real friends can have meaningful discussion (and even debate) around important issues, but they don’t forfeit their friendship over different opinions. They value each other’s perspective because they value each other.
“A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.” Proverbs 15:1
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