Young Adults' Group

Wisdom In Friendships

by Pastor Mark
February 13, 2025

Understanding friendships

Friendships are an integral part of our lives. They provide us with love, support and encouragement. A special bond between friends can last through life’s challenges. We thank God for good friendships.

But not all friendships are good. Some can be detrimental, and we should be wise and discerning in identifying them. The author of Proverbs wrote about understanding bad friendships and how to leave them. Many scams today start with friendship and the victims end up facing huge financial losses. The challenge is to be wise concerning our friendships.

Discerning bad friendships

1. The mistake of trusting a stranger as a friend

“My son, if you become surety for your friend, if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,” (Proverbs 6:1)

1. The challenge of friendship is discerning how well we know a person.
2. Some may only be acquaintances who are still strangers to us.
3. Yet, we deem them as friends and allow ourselves to make promises to them.

2. The danger of making promises unwisely

“You are snared by the words of your mouth; you are taken by the words of your mouth.” (Proverbs 6:2)

1. When we make a promise rashly, we find ourselves ensnared by it.
2. Scammers seek to trap us using friendship and deceive us into making such pledges.
3. Many unsuspecting people have lost much financially due to such “friendships”.

Finding a way out of bad friendships

1. Delivering ourselves

“So do this, my son, and deliver yourself; for you have come into the hand of your friend: go and humble yourself; plead with your friend.” (Proverbs 6:3)

1. When we are aware of such bad friendships, the challenge is getting out.
2. We can turn to the Lord to help deliver us from such bad situations.
3. But we also need to do our part and deliver ourselves from the hand of our “friend”.
4. Let us seek to do what we can to negotiate a way out of the promise.

2. Taking urgent steps

“Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids. Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, and like a bird from the hand of the fowler.” (Proverbs 6:4–5)

1. This matter should be treated with the utmost urgency.
2. We should not delay addressing this problem, not even giving ourselves time to sleep.
3. Solomon used fitting images of animals, such as the gazelle and the bird, seeking to escape from their hunters.
4. We, too, need to escape urgently from such evil “hunters”.
5. Let us take urgent steps to deliver ourselves from such bad friendships.

Let us be challenged to check our friendships very carefully and discerningly. If we are in a bad friendship, let us seek to deliver ourselves wisely and urgently while we still can.

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