A person becomes like the people with whom they associate. This is why it is critically important to choose your friends wisely. Proverbs 13:20 warns us that we should “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.”

“Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.” - Proverbs 13:20

In this life, we often confuse being loved with being used. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference. I myself was once involved in a scenario where people, whom I thought loved me, were only trying to use me. I realized it when I had nothing, all of those people I called my friends were nowhere to be found.

Truth is something that is better to hear from a friend.

A good friend is someone who, rather than using you, truly cares for you. One way that a friend can care is by telling you the truth. Truth is something that is better to hear from a friend; if you are doing something wrong a true friend is someone wise enough about you to tell you. A friend doesn’t want to see you on the wrong path. While that truth may sometimes hurt, a friend who uses flattery or patronizing, in the end, usually does more harm than good. Rub your shoulders with people who can openly tell you your blind spots because they are there to build you up.

1 Corinthian 15:33 remind us: “Do not be fooled.” Bad companions ruin good character. Open your eyes and truly see those around you. Listen and see with your Godly eyes and ears because bad company often gives great first impressions. Trust me that some relationships are not worthy of your life. With open eyes, see how God will make a new creation out of you. Jesus is our faithful friend and those who walk in His council, not the council of people only here to destroy, will benefit. I urge you, just like Paul, to say goodbye to harmful people in your life and find friends and relationships that build you up.

Only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.

Friends are those people that stick with you during the good and hard times. Friendships are wonderful gifts to our lives straight from God. Trials and adversity can show the character of your truest friends. “A friend loves at all times and a brother is born for a time of adversity” (Proverbs 17:17). Many people may walk in and out of your life but, I tell you, only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.

I encourage you to rub shoulders with people who understand and appreciate you as you are, without any exaggeration, flattery or pretensions. People who build you rather than destroy.

Reflection question: Are the people in your life building you up or tearing you down?