“You are awesome.”
“You are right.”
“You are my best friend.”
Don’t you love hearing those words?
“That is not a good idea.”
“Don’t be a jerk.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t . . .”
How about those words? Well, those don’t sound all that great, do they?
The people we like best are the ones who tell us how amazing we are. We usually say or think mean things about the people who tell us no. We’ve got it backward. Proverbs 27:6 tells us, “Wounds made by a friend are intended to help, but an enemy’s kisses are too much to bear.”
The Bible tells us that real friends will tell you the truth, even when it’s hard to hear. Friends care about you too much to let you act like an idiot. They don’t want you to get hurt or to hurt others. So, even though they might be scared, they stand up to you and let you know that sometimes your choices aren’t all that great. Those are the “wounds” that friends give.
Enemies, however, don’t actually care about you. They don’t care if you become a better person. They tell you that you are awesome when you’re selfish. They tell you that the teacher totally deserved it when you talked back to her. And enemies’ “kisses” may look good on the outside, but they are evil on the inside. (Does that sound familiar? I thought so. Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss.)
As you walk through the day, notice who your real friends are.
