What Do You Need From Your Friends Right Now?

Sweet friendships refresh the soul and awaken our hearts with joy, for good friends are like the anointing oil that yields the fragrant incense of God’s presence.

Proverbs 27:9 TPT

Good friendships are spiritually refreshing. 

The Bible has a lot to say about friendships and what friends should do for each other:

• Friends help us get through hard times and adversity – “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. [10] If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 NLT)
• Friends laugh and cry with us – “Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. [16] Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!” (Romans 12:15-16 NLT)
• Friends believe in us when we don’t believe in ourselves – “If you love someone, you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him.” (1 Corinthians 13:7 TLB)
• Friends don’t see us for our mistakes – “Love overlooks the mistakes of others, but dwelling on the failures of others devastates friendships.” (Proverbs 17:9 TPT)

We’re not meant to go through life alone

It’s clear in the Scriptures that we’re not meant to go through life alone. We need each other, and we all have different strengths and weaknesses that we bring into our relationships:

Just as there are many parts to our bodies, so it is with Christ’s body. We are all parts of it, and it takes every one of us to make it complete, for we each have different work to do. So we belong to each other, and each needs all the others.

Romans 12:4-5 TLB

Every one of us has a role and something we bring to the table, as well as areas of weakness that we need our friends’ help with. God has given each of us different “work to do,” and we need each other’s help, support, and teamwork to live out God’s purpose for our lives.

When we believe we are personally chosen by God, we can be confident about our role in our friends’ lives to make them better, and secure enough to ask them for help too.

Friends open their hearts to each other

[11] We are speaking freely to you, Corinthians [we are keeping nothing back], and our heart is opened wide. [12] There is no limit to our affection for you, but you are limited in your own affection [for us]. [13] Now in the same way as a fair exchange [for our love toward you]-I am speaking as [I would] to children-open wide [your hearts] to us also.

2 Corinthians 6:11-13 AMP

When we believe God loves us and chose us to be in each other’s lives for a reason, we will have relationships that are open and holding nothing back. 

How do you approach friendships? Are you looking to compete and be better than your friends? Are you insecure about what they think about you? Or are you opening wide your heart to them, getting to know them just for the sake of knowing them and loving them enough to let them know you? 

In order to truly understand each other, it is important to communicate who we are and what we need as well as being interested enough in our friends’ lives that we understand who they are and what they need, too. That is why we put together this quiz, “What Do You Need from Your Friends Right Now?” 

This quiz is not meant to define you in any way but be a starting point for conversation between you and your friends to understand and get to know each other. Answer the questions together with friends, and then talk about your results. 

How can you be these kinds of friends for each other today?