Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 838 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
True Friendship - Ask Gramps

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week, wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 838 of our Trek and time for our Philosophy Friday series.  Each Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life, and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy.  As we continue on this trek called life, sometimes we have questions about life, so our Friday trek is a time where we can ‘Ask Gramps.’   Gramps will answer questions that you would like to ask your dad or granddad, but for whatever reason, this is not possible.  No matter how old we are, I know that all of us would like the opportunity to ask dad or gramps questions about life in many areas.  We will address areas such as finances, relationships, health/fitness, business/work, home repairs/renovations, seasons of life, spiritual/Biblical questions, and any others areas that come our way.  As your fellow sojourner and mentor on this trek that we call life, it is Gramps goal to provide you with practical wisdom and advice about any area of life. It is crucial that I receive a constant flow of questions so please submit your questions to guthrie@wisdom-trek.com, and Gramps will answer your questions on our Friday podcast.

We are broadcasting from our studio at ‘The Big House’ in Marietta, Ohio.  We all desire to be liked and accepted by others, it is part of our nature.  To expand that into having close friends is more difficult.

So our question for today is:

Hey Gramps, “I desire to have close friends, and also be friends to others, but I find this is difficult for me.  What is true friendship, and how can I have friends and also be a good friend to others?”
True Friendship
The first principle is ‘to have friends and to be a friend you must show yourself friendly’.  The second overall principle is that ‘you cannot like or love others unless you love yourself’.  It is impossible to love and accept others without first loving and accepting yourself.  God created you uniquely to be a bearer of His image.  You are a child of the King, joint heirs with Christ Jesus.  The Lord Jesus Christ gave us the definition of a true friend: There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. (John 15:13-15).

Jesus is the pure example of a true friend, for He laid down His life for His "friends." What is more, anyone may become His friend by trusting in Him as his personal savior, being born again and receiving new life in Him.

There is an example of true friendship between David and King Saul's son Jonathan, who, in spite of his father Saul's pursuit of David and attempts to kill him, stood by his friend. You will find that story in 1 Samuel chapter 18 through chapter 20.

Proverbs is another good source of wisdom regarding friends. Proverbs 17:17 A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need. Also in Proverbs 18:24 There are “friends” who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother. The issue here is that in order have a friend, one must be a friend. Being a friend also means that sometimes you have to confront your friend Proverbs 27:6 Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.   Good, close friends, also help each other improve and to become better in all aspects of life.  Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.The principle of friendship is also found in Amos 3:3 Can two people walk together without agreeing on the...