One of the Proverbs in the Bible says “faithful are the wounds of a friend“. On the surface that can almost sound brutal, but it simply means friends tell the truth…even if we don’t always like it.

When I toured the United States, playing music with my brother, sometimes we’d find ourselves dealing with someone who could smile to your face and virtually stab you in the back at the same time. A person like that is NOT your friend. That sort of person is full of deceit and not to be trusted.

You certainly don’t want your friends treating you that way. Right? You’d rather have them tell you the truth instead of talking behind your back. Well, sometimes that truth cuts like a knife. And for a while it can leave mental and emotional wounds. But once you pick yourself up and recognize what it took to tell you that, you’ll heal quickly.

You’ll heal quickly, that is, if you’re growing in wisdom and the knowledge of God’s grace to you. That wisdom and knowledge gives you the maturity to accept “open rebuke” when it’s given in love. If a friend tells you something you need to hear, and not merely something sweet for your ears, your friend is openly showing love…not just criticizing.

You’re valuable to God. So valuable, in fact, that He sent His only Son to take on human flesh and die in order to give you the Way out of your fallen, broken human nature. And sometimes His words may come to you from a friend’s mouth. When that happens, be grateful that someone cares enough about you to share Truth.

In this chaotic world full of hatred, deceit, and violence it’s truly a good thing to find someone who cares. When you do, I hope it’ll inspire you to also be one of those friends who tells the truth.

Stay tuned…