Bible Verse About Friendship

I love this Bible verse about friendship. 

Proverbs 18:24 "A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."

Even though the passage isn't very long the author packs a lot o things to think about into that one sentence. Let's take a look at some of the elements of this verse.

Too Many Friends?

This scripture starts out by saying that someone with many friends may come to ruin. Why would it say that? It seems like when I was in high school everyone always wanted more friends. It was all about the friends. I think most people, including myself, soon find out that it's not really about the number of friends you have. It seems like the more friends you have the more things are asked of you...the more favors, the more money, etc. I think we have all also experienced that friend who only seems to be your friend because of what they can get out of the friendship, not what they can give (There needs to be give and take in any friendship). If you have enough of those friends you will find yourself exhausted very quickly. 

I'm not saying that having a lot of friends is bad necessarily (especially if you are an extrovert!). I have been through a lot of tough stuff in my life and I've found that out of all my friends there is a small handful who are there when I need them...whenever I need them!

The Point of This Verse

This friendship verse tells me that it's not about the quantity, it's about the quality. I would take one really good friend over 100 friends that were just there when things were going good. I don't need people who aren't there for me when I need them. I want friends who I can count on. This is the wisdom of this verse. A few good quality friends will help to keep you from "ruin". Maybe it's time to look through the friends list and cut out a few? Or maybe it's time to let some people "in" who you haven't really given a chance.