7 Reasons Why Biblical Friendship Is Important Now More Than Ever

When you’re busy and stressed, it’s easy to get burned out. Having close friendships with people you can talk with honestly gives you a safe place to process your thoughts and feelings, which helps you relieve stress. This is exactly what Proverbs 27:9 is talking about. When you’re with close friends who support your walk of faith with Jesus, you don’t have to pretend that you have it all together. You can take off the mask you wear for the rest of the world. A sweet friendship refreshes your soul because it offers a break from the constant pressure in society to perform. In a biblical friendship, you’re loved because of who you are (a child of God), not because of what you do.

The “heartfelt advice” mentioned in Proverbs 27:9 is about someone who supports and encourages you to rely on God, rather than someone who tries to fix you or control you. You’ll find many people in this fallen world who judge you or try to use you for their own agendas. But biblical friends have pure motives, to simply put love into action through their friendships with you.

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It’s hard to see your own rough edges when there’s no one around to reflect them back to you. But biblical friends help you see what your attitudes and actions look like. The Bible uses a great image for this in Proverbs 27:17: “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” If you’ve ever used a dull knife in the kitchen, you know how frustrating and useless it can be. But when you rub it against another piece of iron, it becomes sharp, shiny, and ready for work. Biblical friendship is the sharpening process for your character. It’s not comfortable. In fact, sharpening involves friction and a little bit of heat.

A real friend will challenge you when you’re being unkind, nudge you when you’re being lazy, and encourage you when you’re losing hope. They don’t let you stay like a dull knife. They want you to be the best version of yourself – the person God created you to be – by living into your purpose. Today, it’s easy to surround yourself with people who just agree with everything you say and do. But you need friends who love you enough to sharpen you, helping you stay useful and bright in your faith.

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Life in this fallen world can knock you down when you least expect it. You might lose a job, deal with a health scare, suffer a broken relationship, or just go through a season of sadness. When those experiences come, trying to stand back up on your own is incredibly difficult. God knew this, which is why God’s word points out in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”

Biblical friends are people who are standing right there, ready to reach down and pull you up. They don’t stand over you and ask why you fell or tell you that you should have been more careful. They just offer their hands to encourage and support you. Society often tells you to be independent and self-sufficient, because needing help is a sign of weakness. But the Bible says the exact opposite. Needing a friend to help you up is a part of God’s design. Having help from biblical friends gives you the courage to keep walking with God, even through challenges.

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Society often says that telling the truth is mean or judgmental. As a result, many people are starving for honesty. We all need people who will tell us the truth about our lives, even when it’s not what we want to hear. Proverbs 27:6 says: “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” This sounds strange at first. After all, why would a friend “wound” you? But think about a doctor who has to give you an injection or perform surgery. It hurts, but it’s done to heal you.

Biblical friends are people you trust so much that you allow them to speak hard truths into your life. They might point out a habit that’s hurting your marriage, or tell you that you’re being too prideful at work. They aren’t doing so to put you down; they are doing it because they love you. Enemies will flatter you and tell you exactly what you want to hear, even if doing so leads you into trouble. But true friends care more about your soul than your feelings. In this fallen world where some people give empty compliments, biblical friends give you the gift of truth that they tell you in love.

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What burdens are you carrying right now? Whether you’re dealing with caring for a sick family member, dealing with the stress of financial problems, or dealing with another kind of heavy burden, you weren’t designed to carry burdens by yourself. In Galatians 6:2, the Bible encourages you to: “carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” When you have friends who help carry your burdens, the weight of them doesn’t disappear, but it becomes much easier to manage.

Biblical friends help carry your burdens in ways like praying for you regularly, listening to you vent, and helping you with chores or errands when you’re overwhelmed. You should do the same for your friends whenever they need help. When you carry each other’s burdens, you’re following the example Jesus set. Jesus carried the ultimate burden for all people on the cross, and now he asks you and your friends to carry burdens for each other. In these busy and stressful times, having someone to share the heavy lifting is vital.

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Biblical friendship is like a laboratory where you get to practice and experience God’s sacrificial love. Jesus gave us a very high standard for this in John 15:12-13: “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Most of the time, laying down your life doesn’t mean dying for someone. It means laying down your time to help a friend in crisis when you’d rather be doing something fun like watching TV instead, or laying down your pride to be the first one to say “I'm sorry” after an argument. When a friend loves you sacrificially like this, it reminds you of how much God loves you. It makes the Gospel feel real and tangible. Biblical friendships point you to God as God’s love flows through your relationships together.

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It’s so easy to get distracted in this busy, stressful world. But biblical friends can help you focus on what matters most from God’s perspective. Hebrews 10:23-25 urges you: “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

The word “spur” is interesting here. Just like riders use spurs to get horses moving, biblical friends spur you on toward love and good deeds. Biblical friends encourage you to keep doing good, keep praying, and keep trusting God. They remind you to pursue what has eternal value. When you feel like giving up on your faith or your values, they are the ones encouraging you to keep your eyes on Jesus and keep moving forward in faith. 

In conclusion, it’s worthwhile to invest your time and energy into building biblical friendships. Healthy, close friendships built on biblical principles are especially important during this time, when so many people struggle with loneliness. Biblical friendships can bring many important blessings into your life – and other people’s lives – as God’s love flows through your friendships. So, pray and ask God to bring loving friends into your life, and then look for opportunities to be that kind of friend to other people!

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