Power Of Friends Series

Life Simplified

THE Power of Friends

November 13, 2011

INTRODUCTION

IN 2005 the average American watched 28 hours per week of Television.

In 2009 that had risen to 34 hours a week.

+6 hours surfing the internet

+1.3 hours watching video on mobile devises

We now spend 40.3 hours a week interacting with the glow of a screen.

So what have we lost? A study conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, released in June of 2006, revealed that Americans have less people they can confide in than past generations.

In 1985, the average American had three people in whom to confide matters that were important to them. In 2004, that number dropped to two.

Perhaps even more striking, the number of Americans with no close friends rose from 10 percent in 1985 to 24.6 percent in 2004.

Janet Kornblum, "Study: 25 Percent of Americans Have No One to Confide In," USA Today (6-23-06), 1A; submitted by Bill White, Paramount, California

In an article for The Chronicle of Higher Education, William Deresiewicz examines the new forms of friendship that have emerged in the age of Facebook.

"Friendship is devolving, in other words, from a relationship to a feeling--from something people share to something each of us hugs privately to ourselves in the loneliness of our electronic caves."

 THE CULTIVATION OF GOOD PROVERBS-DRIVEN FRIENDSHIPS ENHANCES OUR PURSUIT OF WISDOM, LIFE SIMPLIFIED.

In proverbs "Good Friendships" are characterized by qualities, blessings that produce a positive result in our lives.

The sage of Israel wrote, "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another" (Prov. 27:17).

Jesus sent them out two by two. Luke 10:1-3

Gal 6:2

The friendships of our lives will build up or tear down. Proverbs 22:24--25

Don't befriend angry people or associate with hot-tempered people, or you will learn to be like them and endanger your soul. (NLT)

I. Consistency in Constancy

A good and faithful friend evidences constancy, a consistency.

Proverbs 17:17 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity. (NIV)

A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need. (NLT)

But real friends bring a consistency and constancy into our lives that we come to know and depend upon.

A few years ago a friend of mine from another church called me in the middle of the night. He was on the way home a business meeting, where he had been engaged in a stimulating forum that included the input from an attractive woman who dealt with an affliction in her life that he also dealt with. He was calling me to do two things. Confess his attraction, though he was married loved his wife, had never cheated on her or entertained the idea of cheating, he found himself attracted. Second, he asked me to contact him the next week the evening of the follow-up meeting in which the two would be forced to work together of the same project.

A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need. (NLT)

He had been there for me in the past. Including one night when I woke him up at 3:00am and asked him to go get coffee with me or I wasn't sure I'd make to church the next day.

A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need. (NLT)

Do you have a friend who will stand with you in your day of trouble? Do you have a friend you admit you struggles to, do you have a friend who is there for you? Who will stand with you in your journey in the day of trouble?

This type of friendship is a two way street. All of us want those types of friends, are we willing to be that type of friend.

I love my neighbors, and sometimes they have gone through some really big struggles. In those days, I choose to be there with them. Why because they need a friend in their time of trouble.

These "friends of opportunity" are similar to "fair-weather" friends. "Lopsided friendship" They are of no value for real needs and support.

But some so-called friends do not "love at all times." Solomon wrote in

Proverbs 14:20, "The poor is disliked even by his neighbor, but the rich has many friends."

Are you that type of friend to another?

II. Candor in Counsel

Noun: The quality of being open and honest in expression; frankness.

A true friend possesses candor.

"Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy" (Prov. 27:6 NIV)

Proverbs 27:5-6

An open rebuke is better than hidden love! Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy. (NLT)