As Christians, we need others. We need our brothers and sisters in Christ to push us. Solomon, the wisest man to live, said, “As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend” (Proverbs 27:17 NKJV). We need our strong brethren to show us our potential in Christ and coach us to get there. If you try it on your own, you risk missing the fullness of life in Christ. It’s not motivation or determination as much as it is healthy competition and desire to be “like them.” Even Paul set that challenge out there for our New Testament brethren and in turn for us when he said, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1 NKJV). Seek iron and be iron for those around you. All it will do is make us all better.
When friendship comes to my mind, I think of two relationships in Scripture. They are Jesus and John and David and Jonathan. Jonathan loved David as his soul. 1 John was the one that Jesus loved, and you can see it in the gospel of John. 2 Not because Jesus showed it so much, but by the in-depth writing, John provides you can see how close they were. John was always with Jesus. John was so close to Jesus; he leaned on the chest of Jesus and asked Christ, who would betray him at the last supper. We see the same closeness between Jonathan and David when Jonathan sought to save David, when Saul’s edict to kill David, went out. 3 These two examples are what I believe God wants with us and wants us to desire to have with Him and His body. The mentioned examples of friendship are the friendship we find deep in the fellowship that John speaks of in 1 John 1:1-10. Godly friendship is a friendship that is not one-sided. It is a bond that is not given up for futile moment
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