There are so many powerful bible verses on friendship in God’s Word. When things are repeated in scripture, it serves us well to pay close attention, right? Repetition usually means IMPORTANT!
God created us to live in close companionship and community with one another.
As with all good Fathers trying to teach important lessons, He makes sure we know ‘why’ friendship is so important, but he goes even further and gives us instruction on what makes a good friend and how to be a good friend.
Why It’s Important to Learn and Study Bible Verses on Friendship
Some of my earliest memories take me back to my days as a young child when I was first learning the very basic fundamentals of friendship. My parents were laying the foundational building blocks that we all try to teach from a very early age: the importance of loving one another, what it looks like to share with others, the power of our words, how to show kindness, listening, showing respect, the importance of following the rules, honoring personal space and of course, peer pressure.
Let’s be honest, the same friendship lessons we struggled with as children, are some of the ones we wrestle with most as adults. Just because we grow up does not necessarily mean we find it easy to live in community and love our friends in a biblical way.
Having friends is an honor and a blessing. But, there is a great deal of responsibility that comes along with having friends. We must take our role as being a friend very seriously.
These bible verses on friendship are so rich and full of wisdom. It is hard to fathom what our world would look and feel like if our Christian friendships truly emulated scripture.
Learning how to choose our friends, show up for our friends, love and serve our friends is not a one and done lesson to be taught and checked off the list. Truly learning how to become a friend like Jesus is a lifelong process. As we learn what scripture has to say about biblical friendship, it is my prayer that the Lord will use His Word to transform our hearts for friendship to be more like his!
Bible Verses on Friendship
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13, NIV)
“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:15, NIV)
“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there among them.” (Matthew 18:20, CSB)
“Let us help each other to love others and to do good. Let us not stay away from church meetings. Some people are doing this all the time. Comfort each other as you see the day of His return coming near.” (Hebrews 10:24-25, NLV)
“So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:11, NLT).
“Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day’s out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived.” (Galatians 6:2-3, MSG)
“Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.” (Romans 12:10-11, NLT)
“When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him.” (Job 2:11, NIV)
“You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4, NLT)
“The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.” (Proverbs 12:26, NIV)
“Iron is made sharp with iron, and one man is made sharp by a friend.” (Proverbs 27:17, NLV)
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a difficult time.” (Proverbs 17:17, CSB)
“Do to others as you would like them to do to you.” (Luke 6:31, NLT)
“Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.” (Proverbs 27:9, ESV)
“Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, CSB)
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” (Colossians 3:12-14, ESV)
“A man who has friends must be a friend, but there is a friend who stays nearer than a brother.”(Proverbs 18:24, NLV)
“Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise.” (Proverbs 19:20, NIV)
“Do not let anyone fool you. Bad people can make those who want to live good become bad.” (1 Corinthians 15:33, NLV)
“How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony” (Psalm 133:1, NLT)
We all need genuine friends in our life that will love us for who we are and who will support us through the good, the bad and the ugly. Navigating friendship can be challenging; however, it is worth the investment of time and energy. By digging deep into scripture and studying bible verses on friendship, we are able to learn what God says about friendship and how Jesus lived by example and brought the Word to life.
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