True Friendship!

Better is an open reprimand [of loving correction] Than love that is hidden. Faithful are the wounds of a friend [who corrects out of love and concern], But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful [because they serve his hidden agenda]. PROVERBS 27:5‭-‬6 AMP

What kind of friend are you? God's divine arrangement is that nobody exists on his/her own, and nobody has everything s/he needs for life. There is an amazing interdependence between man, with one person helping up another in an area of weakness, and the person also being helped in an area of weakness. That's the picture of a body, as Christ explained it in detail.

I can claim to love someone, but how I handle the pressure of compromise or complicity in wrongdoing speaks a lot about my sincerity. Love they only speaks and is not matched with corresponding action is empty and vain. I can talk all I want, but if I keep quiet when there is a need to speak, or I blend in when I  expected to stand out, then what I have is not love as defined by God. Open reprimand is better than secret love, but there are times when love too can be private and its effects are seen in public. The Holy Spirit's leading is key in this  regard.

Am I a friend who is interested only in the gain of friendship, without any corresponding plan to be a blessing to others? Am I so focused on material gain, instead of eternal value? I have come to understand that investing in my eternal destination and in the eternal destiny of others is the best way to spend life. Possession, power, privilege and position are all transient; the people God places in your life are the ones with eternity at stake. Can I dare speak up to correct a wrong? Can I take correction when I am the one in the wrong? Am I a mouth-confessor alone and not a life- professor? His  time of favour is here.