Faithful are the wounds of a friend;

last Friday i had a conversation with a friend, in which we had a bit of a disagreement. you see i was trying to admonish him the only way i knew how. he did not take it well. he was offended because i said Christians should not only love and follow Christ, but that they ought to go to church as well. for Jesus no doubt loves his bride, and so should we....well, our conversation went on only a few more minuets before i found out he was totally offended at something else i said. he had read a written prayer to me a few days before. it was very nice, very poetic and Christ exalting. and i told him that, but i then offered some advice. "make sure no matter what that you stay biblical, and check it over", well come to find out he took that as an insult. as if i where saying he could not possibly write something biblical. that was not why i said what i said nor was it why i said anything about going to church, i simply was doing my best to encourage him. the problem is this. we do not like to be challenged and or told we are wrong. but what does a real friend do?

Pro 27:5 Open rebuke is better than secret love.
Pro 27:6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful:

hmmm, the wounds of a friend? faithful? why does that sound funny. it's because we do not think a friend should give wounds. but the truth hurts sometimes, and it's better that we give the truth in love then give the evil kisses of an enemy. it may cause pain, it may cause some tension between you and your friend, but it will always be worth it when you both learn through the experience together.

i can not say what he learned though this, but i trust that he has learned. we are talking again and on good terms, still i did not want to pry and ask if he learned his lesson! never the less, i have learned to be more gentle when talking to people about God. whether they be friends or no, we must take care to speak truth, but do it in love.

last off, if some one comes to you in love and offers a bit of advice remember proverbs 27:6, better they come to you with the truth then just try and make you feel good about you.