Proverbs 17:17. A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
Proverbs 17 is full of God’s thoughts on friendship. In today’s proverbs we are reminded of the nature of a true friend – good friends love you at all times. In contrast to brothers, friends are not born. They are chosen. A friend has freely chosen to be connected to you, not from duty, but from love. When things get tough you find out who your real friends are, don’t you?
Do you have friends that love you unconditionally like this? I hope so.
Times of adversity don’t just test friendships; they also test family ties. The proverb reminds us that a brother is born for adversity. In contrast to friends, your siblings had no choice in the matter. They were born into the relationship. But even if our siblings aren’t our best friends, they are still the ones we turn to in seasons of great difficulty. Family has an obligation to help in adversity, in fact, it’s why they were born, to be there for each other. Family is God’s safety net. And that’s a good thing.
I was reminded of the truth of this proverb just this week as one of my older brothers passed away. When financial help was need for his burial it was brothers and sisters that helped pay the bill. Siblings that were born for adversity. It was our duty and our honor to help.
Friends and family are both tremendous gifts from God. These are two relationships that we must be thankful for and work to cultivate and grow. And we must never take them for granted.
In Christ we have the one person that is both our truest friend, loving us at all times, and our eternal brother, helping us through all adversity. When Jesus humbled himself, taking on flesh, leaving Heaven for Earth, and making himself the servant of all, he did so as both our friend and our brother. He showed us that he was willing to love us at all times, no matter what. At his birth, Jesus became our human brother that was literally born for adversity. He was born to die on the cruel cross for us. He was born to bury our lives into his own. He was born to raise us to everlasting life. He was born so as to one day remove all adversity from our lives.
Christian, even if your friends or family fail you, you can know that Jesus never will. And when you know this truly unconditional, everlasting love of Christ, then you too can be a friend and a brother or sister that loves at all times and runs into adversity, not away from it.
This is what the church of Christ is, a spiritual family of friends who love and take care of each other in all times and in all ways. In Christ we are “framily,” friends and family, full of Christ’s own love and born again into his own suffering.
Romans 12:10. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
You: Spend a bit of time evaluating your relationships (friendships and family). Do you love at all times? Are you engaging with family adversity?
You in Christ: How does the eternal friendship and brotherhood of Christ in your life allow you to embrace these roles with real love and strength?
Christ in you: Is there a friend or family member that you can reach out to today, letting them know that you’re there for them?
Pray: Father, thank you for sending me your Son to be my friend and my brother. Thank you that I can always count on his love for me, no matter what. Amen.
To Live is Christ 