2/9/2025
Turn with me to Proverbs 19:3-4. These are our verses to study and memorize this week.
Proverbs 19:3-4 The foolishness of man ruins his way, And his heart rages against the LORD. 4 Wealth adds many friends, But a poor man is separated from his friend.
Introduction
In these verses we are in a section of Proverbs dealing with wisdom for life’s relationships. Proverbs 18:22 started this off by looking at the marriage relationship. We will circle back around to that focus in Proverbs 19:13-14. In between those verses we are primarily looking at true friendship and true wealth. Toward the end of these verses we will also get an opportunity to see wisdom for some other general relationships. Capping things off Proverbs 19:15-24 will give us a chiasm with some additional helpful principles of wisdom for our relationships.
Through it all, we find an overarching principle that guides us. It becomes visible when we look at the structural markers and repeated elements that Solomon has left for us. When he began this whole section in Proverbs 18:22 he talks about finding a good thing when one finds a God-given wife. In 19:8 we see that one “who keeps understanding will find good.” Then 19:16 repeats that “keeping understanding” idea when it refers to one “who keeps the commandment keeps his soul.” These repeated elements at key transitional points helps us see both the goal that we should have in mind for our relationships as well as the way to get there.
In short, to “find good” in our relationships (as 18:22 and 19:8 talk about) we need to hold onto (or “keep”) God’s wisdom by obedience to it (as 19:8 and 19:16 emphasize).
Our current verses continue several elements from the verses we have already looked at and add additional facets. In Proverbs 18:23 we saw that money can affect relationships and the ways that people speak to one another. Then in Proverbs 18:24 we saw the danger of fake friends leading to ruin contrasted with the blessing of a true friend’s faithfulness.
Proverbs 19:3 now returns to that idea of being ruined from 18:24. It also completes the picture that we have just seen in Proverbs 19:1 and 2. In Proverbs 19:1 we saw that being a person of integrity was more important than any physical wealth on this earth. In Proverbs 19:2 we saw how the lack of the knowledge of God’s wisdom led to not finding good, but rather going astray into sin. Proverbs 19:3 finishes these thoughts off by showing the result of exalting foolishness and wealth with a life apart from God’s wisdom. It leads to a foolishness that ruins one’s way and to a foolish heart that blames and defies God.
Meanwhile Proverbs 19:4 will return to that idea of money and friends and highlight the disingenuous friendships of those people who desire to be around those with wealth.
With that overview of the big picture of where we are at, let’s take a closer look at Proverbs 19:3-4 and continue studying true friendship and true wealth.
3 The foolishness of man ruins his way, And his heart rages against the LORD.
Foolishness in people leads them astray and to defying God in their heart. This proverb emphasizes that a foolish defiance of God ruins a person’s life.
The word for ruin in this verse has to do with something being twisted, misled, perverted, and destroyed. Foolishness takes one’s thinking and one’s way of living off of God’s design for it onto something else. Ultimately that leads to ruin. When we do things the opposite of God’s way the corruption ends up leading to destruction. This pursuit of foolishness, and this exalting of our own way above God’s way also twists our thinking such that when things ultimately do not turn out the way we want we somehow still turn around and blame God—even though it was our sin which deviated from what was right and led to that result.
Within our overall study of proverbs we have seen that there are two pathways of life. There is the pathway of wisdom and the pathway of foolishness. There is the pathway of righteousness and the pathway of wickedness. Naturally we have seen that on the pathway of the wicked there can be variation. There are the naïve who default into a foolish way of living and then there are the scoffers who are confirmed and intentional in their wicked way of living. Nonetheless that pathway only leads to one place.
Here in our proverb we see the consequences of travelling down the pathway of wickedness and foolishness. Ruin is the result. In their response to that failure and ruin the foolish blame God. They get angry at God for their sin not having the results that they wanted. They get angry at God for the general results of sin on this broken world. They rage against God for the consequences that come upon them because of their own sin. They blame God for the results of sin rather than learn from them and realize their true source. They blame God instead of accepting the blame that they themselves and other sinners deserve. This world has been ruined from God’s creation of it in a perfect state by Adam and Eve’s sin. They abdicated their responsibilities to God and chose to follow Satan’s lies over the truth of God. Every single human since then has added to and compounded that—except for the perfect, divine Jesus.
Yes, indeed, it is the foolish sinful rebellious sin of man that ruins his way. Despite that, their rage is directed at God. Some people—even in churches and among people professing to be Christians—blame God when tragedies occur. Some leaders in churches even advocate for allowing people to yell and scream at God in their anger over things that have occurred in their lives. They say that God is big enough and He understands. Yes, God is big enough to handle the rage and anger of people. Yes, God does understand that kind of behavior. He describes exactly how He understands it and how He views it right here in this proverb. He also describes the outcome of that pathway of life.
According to this verse, it is the fool who rages against God and blames Him. It is the fool who exalts himself over God to sit in judgment of Him and His ways. It is the fool who lays the fault at God’s feet for sin. Blaming God is the result of foolishness ruling our minds and guiding our actions. Blaming God is the result of being without knowledge as Proverbs 19:2 just talked about. That living without the knowledge and wisdom of God leads to error. It leads to missing the mark. It leads to sin. That sin blinds people to the truth. It leads them into further foolishness and sin, and ultimately causes them to rage against the good, perfect, loving God who made everything. It leads them to blame the one who made the only way of redemption from this sin-cursed world and life that we live in. It leads to their ruin.
Instead of doing that the wise person goes to God for wisdom. The wise person goes to God for understanding and knowledge. The wise person goes to God daily to learn how to live and think. The wise person goes to God to learn what is righteous and what is wicked. The wise person humbles themselves before God and does not exalt themselves and their own wisdom as being better than God. The wise person does not sit in judgment over God. The wise person knows that they are accountable to God for everything that they do, say, and think. The wise person knows that God is the source of every good and perfect gift that we experience here on this sin-cursed world as James 1:17 says. The wise person knows that God is the only one who can and does redeem people from this sin-cursed world. The wise person knows that God is the one who actually has a plan in place that He is bringing about to rid this world of sin, to bring redemption, and to recreate heaven and earth back into a perfect state to be enjoyed forever by His people. This is the promise of 2 Peter 3:13.
2 Peter 3:13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
The wise see all this and do not rage against God. Because of their trust in God and His Word they can say as Job says in Job 1:21—
Job 1:21b-22 The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.”
They can also have the same testimony as Job did in the next verse:
Job 1:22 Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.
Living this way, even when we do not understand all the “why’s” of life will make us people of integrity who hold onto truth and righteousness even in the midst of great adversity. Living this way will cause us to turn from the lies of sin and foolishness which would attempt to deceive us and derail us from God’s redeemed path of life.
As we consider this proverb in light of its context here dealing with relationships we see that a person who lives like this following paths of foolishness is not the kind of friend to have, nor is it the kind of person we ought to be. Foolishness will just lead us into wrong choices and ruin. If we are wise and want to find good in our relationships we will not allow ourselves to be influenced by foolish friends who defy God and then blame Him for the results. Nor will we let ourselves become such a person.
Scriptural Example: When we look to Scripture for examples of this proverb we see it right away in the book of Genesis with Adam and Eve in regard to their sin in the garden of Eden. Do you remember what Adam’s response was to God when He confronted him about his sin? He immediately blamed both Eve and God in a rather shocking way in Genesis 3:12.
Genesis 3:12 The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.”
Essentially he was saying, “It is YOUR fault, God. You gave me the woman and she gave me the fruit which I ate.” In actuality, it was the undeceived decision of Adam to eat that fruit. That is what led to his sin and the ruin that came from it with his spiritual death and looming physical death. It was not God’s fault. It was Adam’s own foolishness in departing from God’s perfect design for their lives which led to his ruin. It was then his further foolishness to blame God.
We see another example of this in the life and ministry of Jonah the prophet. We first see his foolishness in deciding to disobey God. He fled in the opposite direction when God told him to go to Nineveh and prophecy its impending destruction. He defied God and that led to his ruin. The storm nearly destroyed the boat he was on and led to him being cast overboard into the middle of the raging sea. Under all normal circumstances he would have been dead. In God’s grace Jonah was swallowed by a huge fish and was carried about for thee days in its belly until he was spit up upon land.
From that he learned enough to go and obey the letter of God’s command to preach to Nineveh. After preaching to them, amazingly they repented. In His mercy and grace God then relented of His judgment. Jonah was angry at this and blamed God. He angrily set up camp outside the city and waited to see if God would destroy it. Jonah was angry at God for His compassion on Israel’s enemies. He wanted Nineveh destroyed. His foolishness led him into disobedience to God. Then it led him into a perverted and twisted view of right and wrong where he thought he knew better than God. He raged against Him when things did not go the way he wanted.
Proverb in Comparison: When we compare this proverb with the rest of Scriptures we see these truths helpfully confirmed and expanded upon in Lamentations 3.
The book of Lamentations is a poetic expression of the strong grief mixed with a glimmer of hope which the prophet Jeremiah experienced. He had faithfully proclaimed the truth of God to the hard-hearted, idolatrous people of Judah while personally enduring their persecution and wickedness. Then he experienced the trauma of God’s strong judgment on the whole land during Babylon’s long siege and conquest. It included much death as well as the leveling of the temple and much of the city of Jerusalem. In the midst of all that in Lamentations 3:38-40 Jeremiah highlights why we have no right to speak against and blame God. Then he declares what we should do in light of suffering.
Lamentations 3:38-40 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High That both good and ill go forth? 39 Why should any living mortal, or any man, Offer complaint in view of his sins? 40 Let us examine and probe our ways, And let us return to the LORD.
God is not the author of sin. However, He is the righteous judge of it and He is the one calling us to repent of it. He is the standard of righteousness, and He is the one who decreed and told us that sin would cut us off from Him as the source of life and goodness. He is the judge who righteously carries out His vengeance upon sin. The mere withholding of His goodness—which we all deserve because of our sin—brings about our death. He alone is the source of life and the sustainer of life.
The main point then here is that because of our sin we have no right to make any complaint to God. Any extension of our life, any good thing at all that we experience is by the mercy and grace of God. It is through His undeserved goodness upon us. Therefore any calamity that we experience should not drive us to hate and blame God. Rather it should cause us to examine our ways. It should cause us to turn from any sin that might be in our lives. It should cause us to turn to God and hold onto Him as the one and only true source of goodness, righteousness, salvation, comfort, and help.
Some of the earlier verses in this chapter highlight this response that we ought to have and reminds us that it is not God’s purpose to bring grief upon people. Rather, through it all God’s loving-kindness, goodness, and salvation is at work. Listen to how Jeremiah overcomes his own great grief, sorrow, and pain with the even greater goodness of God in Lamentations 3:25-33.
Lamentations 3:25-33 The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the person who seeks Him. 26 It is good that he waits silently For the salvation of the LORD. 27 It is good for a man that he should bear The yoke in his youth. 28 Let him sit alone and be silent Since He has laid it on him. 29 Let him put his mouth in the dust, Perhaps there is hope. 30 Let him give his cheek to the smiter, Let him be filled with reproach. 31 For the Lord will not reject forever, 32 For if He causes grief, Then He will have compassion According to His abundant lovingkindness. 33 For He does not afflict willingly Or grieve the sons of men.
Indeed, it is foolishness to pervert God’s ways and destroy His creation by our sin. It is foolishness to then in turn blame Him for what sin has caused. It is sin and missing the mark to act without the wisdom and knowledge of God. Living this way is a sure-fire way to ruin our lives and those we are connected with.
Truth in Connection: Foolishness can start off quite small with the pursuit of one’s own way. But that foolishness ultimately is a rebellion against God and His righteous commands and design. It is a twisting and perversion that can ultimately only result in ruin. To find good in our lives and relationships we must not live this way, and we must not have as our friends those who do. If we involve our lives with theirs we will end up being recipients of the ruin that comes upon them. That is exactly what happened to those poor sailors who were on that boat with Jonah. They nearly died when God’s judgment came.
Jeremiah likewise endured the broad judgment of God upon Judah for their sin because of his presence among them. In his case, of course, he was doing exactly what God called him to do. He was calling them to repentance. Within that commission from God, God did preserve him to accomplish all the purposes that He had for him until it was actually his time to go home to be with God.
Nonetheless, his proximity to the consequences of the nation’s idolatrous, foolish lives did greatly affect him. Some things we simply cannot avoid because we live in this sinful world among other sinful people.
Aside from that kind of reality, though, where we are able we must be careful not to allow ourselves to become involved with the foolishness of others which leads to ruin. Likewise, we must not slip into their mindset of blaming God for the consequences of sin that come upon them.
Instead, we ought to remember God’s goodness. We ought to remember God’s love. We ought to remember that the broken, hard consequences of sin—both general and specific—will be a part of the trials we face in this life. Through it all we ought to examine our lives and wait on the Lord. We ought to depend upon Him for salvation, help, and comfort. We ought to patiently wait for His good and perfect timing. We ought to look for and long for Jesus’ return and final redemption. We ought to look at ourselves as pilgrim’s with a purpose. We are passing through this life carrying out God’s plan.
As we do these things and maintain this mindset of keeping our focus on God we ought to proclaim His goodness and salvation to the world around us. They are deceived by their sin and cut off in their deadness from a relationship with God. They are under His condemnation and judgment. But there is truth, life, redemption, and forgiveness in Jesus Christ. We have the privilege of calling them to repentance and salvation. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins and He rose again to overcome them and bring life to all those who trust in Him as Lord and Savior. In Him alone is there true, eternal love, forgiveness, life, and redemption. Let’s exalt these truths in the midst of a dark and deceived world that blames Him for what we ourselves have caused.
If you are here and you have been naively or even intentionally following your own foolish way of life then know well that it will only lead to your ruin. Turn to Jesus before it is too late. If you have gotten into the mindset of blaming God for the hardships and evil that you have gone through in life, or that you have seen all around you in this world, then we would urge you. Stop. Look at life from God’s perspective of wisdom. Do not ruin your life any longer by blaming Him and twisting good into bad through a sinful way of life. On our own we cannot stop doing this, but by His Spirit we can turn to Jesus for the one and only power to overcome our sin. We can turn to Jesus for salvation, forgiveness, and life. We can turn from our sin to Him. We can surrender to Him to make us a new creation. Turn to His love, goodness, and mercy. Trust Him as your Lord and Savior today. This is the only way to avoid ruin and to find good.
Our next proverb continues in its focus of helping us to “find good” in our relationships by pointing out another huge deception that ruins relationships.
4 Wealth adds many friends, But a poor man is separated from his friend.
People like to become friends with the rich, whereas becoming poor causes them to leave. This proverb emphasizes the fake friends that money brings and the fake friends that poverty removes.
This proverb gives another observation about reality that can greatly impact relationships. Many “friends” are not really friends. Money has a way of causing people to swarm around others because of the greed in their hearts as they desire to personally benefit from the relationship. When the money or opportunity is gone, so are they. This proverb is very similar to one we looked at back in Proverbs 14:20.
Proverbs 14:20 The poor is hated even by his neighbor, But those who love the rich are many.
When we have similarities like this it is helpful to see what the differences are to understand additional nuances of meaning that are intended. Understanding the contexts can be very helpful with this. Proverbs 14:20 is in a larger section of proverbs dealing with those who build up their house with righteousness in contrast to those who tear it down with their own hands. In its immediate context it was part of a four verse chiasm contrasting evil people and good ones with the consequences that happen to them.
The middle verses of the chiasm, of which this verse is a part, then compared the rich and the poor to see how one’s relationship to them affected the house that they were building. Verse 20 is the negative side of things with the way that money should not be treated and viewed (but often is), while verse 21 highlights the blessing of being gracious to the poor. The focus of this section thus emphasizes that the way we treat the poor matters for having a lasting life and legacy established on the rock of God’s righteousness.
Our current proverb comes in the context of finding good in our relationships. It thus warns us against “friends” that are not really friends. It wants us to be discerning of those people who are motivated by money to be around us. It warns us of the deceitful nature of money and its impact on the people that we interact with. To “find good” in our relationships we need to beware of these kinds of people and of greedy tendencies within our own hearts to beware of. It also foundationally teaches us that a true friend is not one who is there for the money or what they can get out of us. So this proverb is focused a bit more on the challenges and danger that money can have in relationships. It can make it very hard to discern who is a true friend and who will disappear when needs arise.
Our current proverb also has a similarity to Proverbs 18:1 which highlights what causes people to separate themselves from others.
Proverbs 18:1 He who separates himself seeks his own desire, He quarrels against all sound wisdom.
In Proverbs 18:1 we have this same idea of separation which is occurring in our proverb. In both cases the separation occurs because of sinful, selfish desires which motivate people rather than wisdom. The so-called friends of the poor man separate themselves from him because the relationship is no longer beneficial to themselves materially. The poor man cannot do much to help them financially. Instead of personally benefitting from the relationship the reverse is actually true. They might actually be called upon to help the poor man! That would require a sacrifice that there would be no chance of getting a return on. Therefore, out of a selfishness that is only focused on advancing themselves they separate themselves from someone who will be of no help in advancing them in some way.
This kind of person is not a true friend. A relationship with this kind of person will not help you find good in your relationships. Their selfishness will actually poison the relationship and be a bad example for you. It may even push you to adopt their self-focused outlook on life. Thus, these are not the kind of people to cultivate as friends. This is not because they simply will not financially benefit us but rather because their perspective on life is a wicked one that is opposite of God’s way of righteousness.
Scriptural Example: In Scripture we see a picture of both this wrong kind of relationship as well as the right kind in 2 Timothy 4:9-18. Notice the relationship between Paul and Demas as contrasted with that of Paul and Timothy. As he closes his letter to Timothy Paul says this:
2 Timothy 4:9-18 Make every effort to come to me soon; 10 for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service. 12 But Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13 When you come bring the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments. 14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. 15 Be on guard against him yourself, for he vigorously opposed our teaching. 16 At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. 17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Demas was not a true friend. Somehow he had gotten attached to Paul for a while, but it did not end up being financially beneficial to him. Perhaps there had been some miracles that God supernaturally did through Paul which may have made him exciting to be around. Ultimately, though, that relationship did not have the pleasures, entertainments, and benefits of the world going for it. Paul’s poverty, imprisonments, and persecutions became too much for Demas. He deserted Paul in his time of suffering and imprisonment for the gospel (cf. also 2 Timothy 1:8-12). Demas was not a true friend. The glamour wore off and he was out of there. To find out that this friendship was fake when he needed help the most must have been hard for Paul.
But thanks be to God, Paul was not friendless. Contrast his situation with Demas with what he says to and asks of Timothy. Paul could write to Timothy in his time of need and know that he would make the long journey to bring him what he needed to be able to live and minister well from his imprisonment. How did he know that? He had a true friend in Timothy. He had gone through hardships with him on the second missionary journey. He knew that he was a fellow servant of the living God with the same goal and purpose in life. Their relationship was not built off of or controlled by money, pleasure, entertainment, selfishness, or easy times. Yes, Paul did take time earlier in the book to encourage and strengthen Timothy for the hardships and fears that he needed to be able to endure, but he was confident in Timothy’s sincere faith and faithfulness.
Interestingly enough, it is at this hard point in his life where Paul also tells Timothy to bring John Mark with him to help them in the ministry. While John Mark had been a false friend on the first missionary journey God had done a work in him. He was changed. He was now a real friend and a fellow minister of God who was no longer controlled by self-focused motivations.
This is how we can know true, godly friends from fake ones. True ones will have a motivation beyond themselves. They will have an integrity that does what is right and best regardless of whether something is financially beneficial or not or whether something is “fun” or not. Ultimately they have a higher commitment to serving God and following His wisdom than pursuing their own financial gain, personal pleasure, or earthly power. This is the kind of friend to have and to be.
Proverb in Comparison: When we compare this proverb with the rest of Scripture we see it reaffirmed that this kind of freedom from the love of money is to characterize us as believers in Jesus in our relationships with people.
1 Timothy 3:3 explicitly states that elders in God’s church must be free from the love of money. Titus 1:7 reiterates this by saying that an “overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward” and “not fond of sordid gain.” 1 Timothy 6:6-7 instructs us all not to view godliness as a means of financial gain, but rather notes that it is a means of spiritual gain when we have contentment with it. Later on in verses 9-10 Paul warns about the love of money being “a root of all sorts of evil,” and how “by longing for it some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
James 2:1-9 also extensively warns against showing partiality in the church based on money. Apparently some had been showing favoritism to rich guests that visited the church while also disregarding poor visitors. James directly warns that this is sin.
In the world wealth may add many friends, and the lack of it may cause the poor to lose their last remaining friend, but among God’s people money is not what relationships are to be built off of.
Truth in Connection: As we connect this proverb to our lives and seek to find good in our relationships we need to realize that God’s wisdom would have us build our relationships off of righteousness, integrity, and love, not money.
In some places people come to a church for the connections that they will make there. They think it will be financially or personally beneficial for them to know the influential people that they hope to meet. That is not what a true church is for or about. It is not a networking location or a country club.
It also is not just some kind of financial security blanket. True friends will lovingly help one another as they are able because God’s loving work in our lives does completely transform how we look at money and how we love one another. Being just a social safety net, though, is also not a true church’s purpose and goal. Its purpose and goal is to glorify and serve God. Its purpose is to help us in growing as disciples of Jesus as we together carry out God’s great commission to us to make disciples throughout the whole world. This is the vision and purpose that we must keep in front of our hearts and minds.
As Christians we have a much higher purpose and goal in life than money. Money is not to be our goal. It is simply a tool for serving God—as the parable of the dishonest steward in Luke 16:1-13 emphasizes. As individuals our goal in life, if we are walking on God’s redeemed pathway of wisdom, is not to attain some American dream of physical prosperity, to be rich, to have fun, or even to become influential and powerful. No, we have something far greater and better motivating us. We live for God’s glory. And what does that mean? It means we live for His good and righteous purposes for our lives. It means we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Selfishness, self-exaltation, and personal gain is not the drummer that we march to.
Instead, among God’s people and in the church our relationships should be about what we can give, not what we can get. It is about serving God together. Jesus modeled this humble servant-hood in giving His life for us on the cross to pay the penalty for sin that we could not pay. He modeled this as He proclaimed in Luke 22:24-27 that in His kingdom the greatest person was the one who was the servant.
Luke 22:24-27 And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest. 25 And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ 26 “But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. 27 “For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.
Jesus Himself gave His life as a ransom for ours. He gave His life as a substitute for ours in paying the judgment that we deserve for our sin. For all those who trust in Him as Lord and Savior He takes away their sin in full and gives them His righteousness. He overcame sin and death when He rose from the grave and He gives us His true eternal life. He raises us from the dead spiritually, makes us a new creation, gives us His Spirit to dwell within us, and has shown us true love, humility, and service. He served us! How backward is that! He deserves all praise and exaltation and service. Yet, He served us.
This is true greatness. This is true love. This is true friendship. This is the kind of focus and life that we need in the friends that we have around us, and in the kind of person that are becoming. With this kind of focus we will not be the disingenuous friend who is simply there for what we can get out of people. We will not be the disingenuous husband or wife who is trying to get more and more from our spouse. We will not be the greedy child or parent who is simply taking advantage of what our parents or children have. Rather, with this kind of serving focus one to another we will truly have relationships that enable us to “find” the good that God designed relationships to have.
Are you this kind of genuine friend? Is this the kind of friends that you have surrounding you? Does money and selfishness really control the kind of friend you are, or the friends that you have around you? Or is your focus really on serving others as you follow Jesus?
If you do not know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then that is the friend that you need most. He is the one and only true, perfect friend. He has shown us true friendship. He gave His life for us. That is not a selfishly motivated friend or a financially motivated friend. He did not and does not need anything from us. Therefore, listen to what He says about your sin and your impending judgment. Listen to His wisdom. You cannot earn your forgiveness. You cannot reconcile yourself to God. But Jesus can reconcile you and He did everything necessary on the cross. But it will not apply to you unless you turn from trusting and following your sin and trust Him as your Lord and Savior. Trust Him today.
Then you will personally know His love and true eternal friendship. Then you will be enabled by God’s Spirit to learn to love and serve others in true friendship to them as you begin carrying out God’s good and wise purposes for your life.
For those of us who have trusted in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, let us be refreshed and refocused through this picture of God’s purpose for our relationships and for the way that we are to relate to people. Friendship is not about what we can get out of others. It is about serving God together with them. May we continue to learn from Jesus’ example. May we grow in basing our friendships with one another on God’s perfect wisdom and love and not our sinful selfishness. We must not let it be about money or selfishness. More and more let us pursue being ones who serve like Jesus has served us. May His river of living water flow from Him through us to others.
Conclusion
If you have any questions on any of this or want help in coming to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior please come talk with us. We are available. Let’s pray.
© 2025, Kevin A. Dodge, All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB),Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org
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