Wounds...

Let me begin by apologizing for not posting on friday... I had something unexpected come up that did not allow me to get around a computer to get it done.

Now with that out of the way I need to know something... HAVE YOU BEEN HURT LATELY?

I want to talk about the subject of friendship. In our modern society, we have turned friendship. Friends have become acquaintances that prop up our need for attention. A GREAT friend in our society is the one that offers you them most benefits in return for the least "cost". They are always "there for you". They never "let you down". Your friend "has your back".

STOP WAIT HOLD THE TRAIN!!! Since when did friendship become about any of these things. These are fance terms for saying that a friend is always there to serve YOU, help YOU, make YOU feel good. I have slight objection to that. Let me rephrase that... I have STRONG OBJECTION to that.

Proverbs tells me that "the wounds of a friend are faithful!". WOUNDS I TELL YOU, WOUNDS!!! I heard someone tell me that if they were going to work with someone they needed to know that they would get in the foxhole with them and that they needed to know they had their back. I disagree. In the army, they don't look for friends who have your back, they look for friends that will shove you up the hill to take over the dang thing. They know that sitting in the foxhole will only end up getting the both of you killed. And they know that the best way they can have your backside is to kick it!

It's the wounds that friends have given me in my life that cause me the greatest pain, and the greatest victory! It is when my best friend tells me that he can't stand me because I have no ability to talk to people, it's when someone calls me out and tells me that I am brazen and obnoxious... those are the moments that don't feel good at all, but mark me! It's when I'm in the middle of one of the most intense moments in my life and someone calls me on a little thing that I am overlooking... those are the things that mark me. They are what cause me to live my life about something other than myself. That, is where I develop the character to be a REAL LEADER.

To summarize, WOUNDS HURT, they are obnoxious and they leave some ugly scars. However, the wounds of a friend are faithful. They are enduring and a real friend will wound me because he/she is FULL OF FAITH (faithful) in me.

So do you actually have any real friends? Do you really? When was the last time you let one of them stab you in the back...? Did you run away when they did, or did you let them cut out the lump of flesh that was holding you back?

I'm not saying your friend's wounds are always a deep spiritual thing that is done exactly according to "God's plan", but I do know that even when done wrongly, they are faithful...

Do you have any visible scars..? Do you have any REAL FRIENDS?