Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy. Proverbs 27:6 (NLT)
We’ve been on a series talking about the wisdom of Proverbs for relationships, and today we’re going to cover two proverbs on the topic of friendship.
The first, Proverbs 27:6, talks about wounds from a sincere friend, and it’s not talking about holding on to friends who purposefully hurt you. These wounds it speaks of are the little loving corrections we can get from good friends.
You see, we all have blind spots—problems or bad habits that we don’t see or that we’re choosing to ignore. Sometimes we need a good friend to point out one of these areas to us. A good friend might point out when they notice you’re spending too much time at work and not enough time at home, for example. If you haven’t been taking care of your health, they might give you a hard time when you want to stop for donuts or when you reach for that third or fourth can of soda.
Even though it might get uncomfortable and may even hurt at times, we need to embrace these moments of truth because they help us to grow and make better choices in the future. In fact, according to Proverbs 9:8, accepting correction is a sign of wisdom. It says, Don’t bother correcting mockers; they will only hate you. But correct the wise, and they will love you.
Let’s build strong, healthy relationships by being willing to talk about touchy issues and work out differences. Be willing to share your perspective and hear a friend out when their opinion differs from yours. Simply by listening, you take one more step toward being the best you can be.