10 Important Qualities To Look for In A True Friend
I love this quote about being a true friend…
“A true friend knows your weaknesses but shows you your strengths; feels your fears but fortifies your faith; sees your anxieties but frees your spirit; recognizes your disabilities but emphasizes your possibilities.” ~William Arthur Ward
We all need good friends … people who believe in us, encourage us, and point us toward hope when hope is hard to find.
Like always, I did some deliberating and research to come up with the following…
10 Important Qualities to Look for in a True Friend
(And some quotes and verses to support them.)
1. A true friend loves and cares about you.
Trustworthy friends value us for who we are, not just what we do for them.
Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8
2. A true friend listens with compassion.
Sometimes the best thing to do for a friend is to sit with them without saying or doing anything more than offering caring love.
“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand.” ~ Henri Nouwen
3. A true friend is trustworthy and honest.
Always! “Speak the truth in love.” Ephesians 4:15
“When you choose your friends, don’t be short-changed by choosing personality over character.” ~ W. Somerset Maugham
4. A true friend encourages you to be your best self.
With humility and wisdom, reliable friends offer God-honoring advice.
As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.
Proverbs 27:17
5. A true friend is patient and understanding.
They are slow to find fault and quick to offer grace.
Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.
Ephesians 4:2
6. A true friend forgives quickly.
No one is perfect, and that means we all need forgiving friends.
Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.
Proverbs 17:9
7. A true friend keeps your secrets and makes you feel safe.
Reliable friends are … reliable!
“Friendship is the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words.” ~George Eliot
8. A true friend will not compete to one-up you.
Without being competitive or envious, our best friends want the best for us.
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit [through factional motives, or strife], but with [an attitude of] humility [being neither arrogant nor self-righteous], regard others as more important than yourselves.
Phillipians 2:3 (AMP)
9. A true friend respects your time and gives you space.
They are not selfish, but kindly give you room to live your life.
“A person who values your time is someone worth keeping in your life.” ~ Daniel Brook
10. A true friend speaks well of you behind your back.
If they have a concern, a friend brings it to you, not to others.
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.
Ephesians 4:29 (ESV)
I want to be a true friend who loves well consistently … someone in whom each of those qualities is evident. And I’ve learned through many friendships that they are important character traits that make a difference.
Care. Compassion. Patience. Reliability. And Trust. Are all important qualities that will make or break friendships. I learned the hard way that people who gossip about others to you will gossip about you to others, and those who gossip are neither trustworthy nor safe.
As Rev would say, “That’s downright Biblical.”
A troublemaker plants seeds of strife;
Proverbs 16:28
gossip separates the best of friends.
I’ve learned there’s great value in being loving and kind to everyone, and building true friendships takes time and patience. And finally, I’ve found that mutual love for the Lord is a wonderful blessing to share with a friend.
Let’s pray…
A Prayer to Be True Friends
Heavenly Father, thank you for creating us to live in community. Thank you for giving us talents, abilities, and personalities to share. Most of all, thank you for Jesus, who showed us how to honor You and love well.
I want to thank and praise You for blessing my life with some wonderful friends. Some I see often, some no longer live close, but will always hold a special place in my heart, and some bless my heart online.
Father, please mold me and make me a true friend. Fill me with Your Spirit and give me everything I need to be caring, compassionate, and kind. May I always be a truthful and trustworthy encourager, quick to apologize and forgive.
By Your grace, please give me the wisdom I need to bless my friends and honor You with humility and patience. I want to share Your love in my friendships now and forever. I want to love like Jesus. In whose name I pray. Amen.
One of my favorite things about my friends is the way they make me laugh!
I agree with Chuck Swindoll…
“I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. Let’s face it, friends make life a lot more fun.”
So, take a few minutes to thank God for your specific friends, and if you’re feeling a little lonely today … remember these words from Zig Ziglar…
“If you go looking for a friend, you’re going to find they’re very scarce. If you go out to be a friend, you’ll find them everywhere.” ~ Zig Ziglar
So many of you have become dear friends to me here at CMB. I want you to know that I thank the Lord for you and pray that He will bless you now and always.
Take a minute before you go and tell me what I missed. What qualities do you need in a true friend?
We would love to pray for you.
You can leave your prayer requests here…
and even take a few minutes to pray over the list left by our friends.
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That’s a wonderful and thoughtful list of a true friend. Thank you. I can’t think of anything to add to it.
❤️Cecilia
I have been blessed with some close friendships that have helped shape who I am today. A common denominator between them all is that they accept me just the way I am. Jesus Christ…He said ‘Come as you are”. I pray to be that kind of friend.
I cannot think of one thing you’ve missed about being a true friend, Deb. Know that I consider you to be such a dear, trustworthy blogging friend even if we’ve never met in person. Thank you for your friendship. God bless you!