The Character of a Friend

Friends.  

Friends are really hard to come by.  But let me clarify what I mean by that:  I'm a people person.  I don't do well when I'm alone; I just love being around other people.  This ensures that I almost always can say "Oh, my friend so-and-so said...."   or "my friend so-and-so and I think....."  It's great to have friends.  But today, I'm going to correct the dictionary.

friend

   [frend]  Show IPA

–noun

1.

a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard

This definition, to me, is just not cutting the mustard.  I have tons upon tons of people to whom I attached by feelings of affection or personal regard.

But are they truly my friends?

Here's my definition of a true friend, explained by means of comparison.

• A true friend always tells the truth right away.
• A false friend only tells the truth when it benefits him/herself.
• A true friend's heart breaks when yours does.
• A false friend expects you to be broken when they are, but they aren't when you are.
• A true friend tells you how beautiful you really are.
• A false friend makes cracks about your clothes/appearance.
• A true friend builds you up in Christ.
• A false friend teaches you how to promote YOURSELF.
• A true friend doesn't let people who hurt you get off scot-free.
• A false friend has an "it's not my problem" attitude.
• A true friend knows everything about you.
• A false friend doesn't take the time to ask.
• A true friend has nothing but good things to say about you
• A false friend will mock you when you're out of ear-shot.
• A true friend reads Scripture to you in times of sorrow/confusion/emptiness
• A false friend reads passages from "Seventeen Magazine" in times of sorrow/confusion/loneliness/"drama"
• A true friend is excited for you when you get to go do something amazing, even if it doesn't include them.
• A false friend whines about feeling left out when you get to go do something amazing, especially if it doesn't include them.
• A true friend is not bounded by time or sleep or illness.
• A false friend makes excuses for not being there when you need them most.

I could go on and on.  And I am so blessed to have a true friend.

I truly hope you have a friend like this too, although they are hard to come by.  I think, especially for teens, it's very important to have someone of the same mindset to fight through the culture and yuckiness of the world, and learn how to do that while we're still young. 

We are broken together, we laugh together, we scheme funny schemes together, and we understand each other completely.

I am so thrilled to have someone with whom I can fight the world.