Text: Proverbs 17:17

Topic: How to choose friends

Introduction:

• The television show Friends has struck a nerve with the American public, because it reveals how significant and beneficial a true friendship can be.
• Proverbs offers an exalted view of friendship that goes beyond surface-level camaraderie to a deeper level in which we share our hearts and lives with one another.

• Proverbs 18:24; 12:26

• When it comes to choosing friends, you don't approach the task lightly, but rather you exercise caution.
• You need to look not only for specific traits in the friends you choose, but also emulate the traits found in Proverbs to become the kind of friend you need to be.

A Friend Hurts When You Hurt

• Proverbs 17:17

• Illustration: May's experience of seeing his married relatives crying because their good friends were going through a divorce, and the realization that good friends hurt for each other.

• Job 6:14

• If your friend gets into trouble, you don't have to endorse everything they've done, or admire everything about them, but you can be there with them, so they don't have to suffer alone.

• A friend will say to you what needs to be said, even if it hurts a little bit. With a true friend, both of you know that the words are really not intended to hurt, but to help.
• Proverbs 27:6
• Illustration: Steve May approached publishers with songs he'd written, and one publisher was very friendly, charming, and encouraging , but when May returned a few days later, he coldly rejected him.
• We tend to act like the people we associate with, and sooner or later we tend to take on their values.
• 1 Corinthians 15:33
• Proverbs 27:17
• John Elway and Dan Marino have both admitted that their relationship with their respective coaches made the difference in their performance while finishing up their careers.

Conclusion:

• Seek out friends who will make you a better person, and strive to be the sort of friend you want to have.