So what exactly makes a good friend? I guess a better question is, how do you know when you have a good friend? That's what I love about the Bible! Everything is all spelled out in front of you. With that being said, try not to just read this post and put it in the back of your mind. Read it and ask these questions about the people you call friends then go back and read some of these verses on your own. You may find that your 'friends' might have never been friends at all. These are just some of the verses that I have been dabbling in for the last week.
Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.” - C.S. Lewis
1. First of all, what does the bible say about friendship?
Jesus is your friend.
John 15: 12-15, talks about the greatest love. It reads: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you."
I used to be under the impression that Jesus was some kind of harsh dictator, it was this verse that reminded me that He is my friend. Not just a regular friend but the greatest friend anyone could have. 
2. Deciding who is your friend and who's not your friend
1 Corinthians 15:33. Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”
Is your friend toxic?
Proverbs 13:20. Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
Who are you allowing to walk with you?
3. How can we keep the friends we have?
Romans 12:10. Love one another with brotherly affection. Out do one another in showing honor.
Ephesians 4:29-32. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
These are just some of the verses I wanted to share this week. I've dealt with toxic friendships for a considerably long time and I thank God for guidance through every situation. I pray that if you are struggling with deciding if a friendship is toxic, you find relief in reading God's word too.
