Friends

    There are so many qualities that are good to look for in a friend.  One I think that most people would see as obvious I think depends on the type of friend.  I think it is ok to have nonChristian friends, but my best friend needs to be a Christian so that I have someone holding me accountable if to not give in and do the things of the nonChristians as Romans says "be in the world but not of the world."  Once I have that one Christian best friend I want them to be patient, understanding, and not afraid to tell me when I'm wrong, to name a few.  I think patience and understanding fall into a Christian understanding of brotherly love that is described in 1 Corinthians 13.  And the last one, that they not be afraid to tell me when I'm in the wrong is important for us to develop trust and a love that is like a brother.  I have one friend in particular that we are very honest with each other (we really are like sisters) and that is good even though sometimes it causes us to temporarily fight.  Proverbs 27:17 says, "that we should be like iron sharpening iron,"  this is saying what I've just said about holding each other accountable when one is wrong no matter the cost.
     These are some high standards of things I want in friend, but I am far away from actually being a good friend.  One area I need to work on is pride.  One big result of my pride is my major competitiveness.  I need to relax and be okay with losing and moving on, because it can't be that much fun to play a game with someone who takes every ounce of it too very serious.  Another is patience and understanding that we both mess up and sometimes you just have to work it out and move on.
     One of the things that I find is a big reason I'm friends with this one person in particular from another school is that we go to church together.  We do many service projects together and have taken on leadership roles together.  We encourage each other to do our best for Christ when we can even though we don't see each other every day like I do some people.
     Finally, I think that there are many important qualities to look for when you are finding friends, but these are some of the key ones for me and I do think that before you become best friends with someone you need to make sure that they are going to push you in a positive direction for Christ in everything you do, because your friends play a huge role in who you are at this point.