…….Faith is a good friend. We met in Church back in 2012 when she joined a department where I had been serving for about four years.
She was first introduced to me by Sue, another good friend and prayer partner. Faith looked bubbly, friendly and sometimes a snob! I hope she doesn’t see this post (ha ha). As we interacted I liked her good self-esteem, self-confidence, good sense of style not to mention that she is very beautiful. That was in 2012- I was judging her only from her outlook because we had just met.
Fast-forward to September 2016. Four years later I can comfortably describe Faith inside out. She is a woman of valor, a woman excellence, caring, respectful, supportive, prayerful and above all God-fearing. I have endless words to describe Faith……Because she is my good friend.
This brings me to my topic on the qualities of good friends.
There is an English proverb that says “Birds of a feather flock together”. Believe me that you will never see sparrows flying together with eagles. Scientists say the reason that birds fly in groups for safety. When a bird flies alone, it’s more vulnerable to predators.
People too behave like birds! We all need friends who have the same believe as us. We need people of ‘the same feather to flock with us”We all need friends.
A friend is a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection…let’s stop at that definition by the Oxford dictionary.
From my life experience I strongly advocate that people should have friends & the following qualities make good friends. Come with me as we discover good friends.
1-Trustworthy
This is the make or break in any relationship. Trust takes time to be cemented yet remains the most sensitive of all. I doubt if you can get back trust is you lose it. Most trust is lost to gossip, betrayal, dishonest, disrespect etc. Friendship stands on two pillars- trust and loyalty. Friends share secrets and those secrets must be kept. Any person who back stabs you does not deserve a seat in your life because a back stabber operates on negative loyalty.
Further, friends who steal material things from you belong in jail not your house!
If you see any signs of mistrust in a friend, weed him or her out of your life and move on without any apology.
2- Respectful
Social media has made respect a hard to find virtue these days. There is a generation that believes more in freedom of expression without caring how the expression is made. Most of us have a social media account where we express our views and opinion about life and about others.
Unfortunately, careless comments on Facebook or Twitter accounts spill into our homes, public joints, church, and school. How we say it to each other ends up hurting our very own friends who care and support us in times of need thus losing their friendship.
Respect is a deep feeling that must be expressed for any relationship to prosper.
3-Honesty
The growth of any mature friendship is based on honesty. An honest friend says the truth even when it hurts and eventually that same truth saves us from pain. To have an everlasting bond with our friends it is paramount that we speak only the truth. Sometimes speaking the truth which can hurt needs great wisdom and objectivity. Always seek God’s guidance.
I must say when we speak the truth to a friend and he/she takes it wrongly, ask God to give you an opportunity to explain yourself. Never allow your friend to take a wrong route in life. Speak the truth.
4-Supportive
Many people have easy time establishing friendships when in good times. The same friends who were there drop us when in need.
A friend in need is a friend in deed. That saying resonates with most people who have been fooled into friendships for wrong reasons. Anybody in your circle who shows tendencies to appear when in need of something should be dropped. Friends should help each other not use each other.
Go ye and make a good friend!