Wise Counsel from Proverbs About Friendships

Proverbs warns us to choose friends carefully (Proverbs 12:26), avoiding people who:

1. Gain money dishonestly.
Proverbs 1:10-19

2. Do wicked things.
Proverbs 4:14-19

3. Have low morals.
Proverbs 5 and 29:3

4. Are foolish.
Proverbs 13:20

5. Are violent.
Proverbs 16:29

6. Are impressed with money, prestige, and power.
Proverbs 19:4,6-7

7. Are hot-tempered.
Proverbs 22:24-25

8. Lack self-control.
Proverbs 25:28 and 28:7

The New Testament summarizes it this way: “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’" 1 Corinthians 15:33

Good friends:
1. Counsel us when we’re doing something wrong.
Proverbs 27:6 and 9
See We Need Friends, Not Fans.

2. Forgive us and don’t rub it in.
Proverbs 17:9

3. Stand with us through thick and thin.
Proverbs 17:17

4. Allow us to correct and “sharpen” them in the same way they correct and “sharpen” us.
Proverbs 27:17

Colossians 3:12-14 describes the kind of friend we want and the kind we want to be.
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If you are going through a period, feeling friendless and lonely, you might enjoy this 1-minute devotion: What a Friend

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