So I found myself doing a late night bible study, which is honestly something that I have not done in a long time. It hurts knowing how long its been since I pushed myself to do this. But a good friend of mine, no a brother in all but blood, asked something of me and it has led me to do this study. And in doing so, I couldn't but feel that I needed to type it out and put it somewhere.
Who knows? Maybe someone in here could use what I type here for some reason. If so, then I shall consider it a great honor. May God use this to do good.
FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT RELIGIOUS AND DO NOT WISH TO READ BIBLE VERSES:
Please do not be offended. If you would like to know the advice on friendships without reading all of this, please skip down to the bottom.
The best way to make, keep and nurture friendship.
A froward man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends.
Proverbs 16:28 (KJV)
This was where I began. Some translations say it as A perverse or dishonest man stirs up conflict, and gossip ruins friendships. Gossip and whispers can ruin the best of friends. This is something I have experienced personally and am extremely thankful for having seen it resolved. While using online cross-references to look into the verse more, I found a couple of verses in Proverbs that seem to connect with one another. I will lay them out in the order I found profound:
(All verses below in NIV)
16:27 - A scoundrel plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire.
26:20 - Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down.
17:9 - He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.
15:18 - A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel.
Now I wish to show you a parallel that I found while reading those verses, what I found they meant to me:
16:27 - A scoundrel, or evil man, uses words like a fire
26:20 - That fire needs wood to burn, the same way quarrel needs gossip to ignite or continue
17:9 - Let a past problem be, and you promote your love and friendship. Bring it up over and over again, and you will lose friends
15:18 - Hot-heads will continue to start trouble, but cool heads will calm down quarrels
In short, what I learned was this:
Always remember that wicked and unfair people will use words to ruin your life. And the fire they start to ruin your life can only burn with gossip, either given by you or the person who started the fire. If a problem is over, if you have been able to move on, do NOT bring it up again. Bringing it up again will only cause strife, conflict and pain. Hot headed and, usually, angry people rarely think clearly. But calm and cool minds will help calm down fights, conflicts and quarrels.
It is my hope that these words will help continue, nurture, maybe even start close friendships, possibly making them closer.
Grace be with you. God bless!
