Todd Johnson
Family Pastor
Proverbs 18:24; 27:17
“A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”
“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”
My friends are very important to me. There was a long season in my life where my family wasn’t there to support me or even talk to me and a few key friends never left my side during that time. I have been blessed with a handful of amazing friends. These two verses have always been special to me because it is a reminder of how the Lord provided friendships to challenge me in my walk with Him, to laugh with me when life was funny and to cry with me when life was hard. I can think of a few friends who will always talk about God with me and how He is working in our lives. We strive to be “iron that sharpens iron” to each other. I am fortunate enough to have a group of five of us who have been the best of friends since high school (that’s over 30 years of friendship). They were there for me big time this last year when I lost my wife and my mom.
Who has God put in your life that is your friend that is “closer than a brother?” Who in your life is “sharpening” you? I just started meeting with three guys from church and I call it a DGroup (discipleship group) where we will study God’s word, share our struggles and challenges, ask each other the hard questions and pray for each other. I also meet with a guy for coffee weekly and we do life together and pray together. At the end of the day, God is truly all we need but I believe He gives us these types of friendships, so we share life together and help each other through the journey here on this side of heaven. I encourage you to develop relationships with friends that will “sharpen” you in your faith with Christ. We need people like this in our lives so we can become stronger men and women of God.