Notes on Friendship from Derek Kidner
One with many friends may be harmed, but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.
-Proverbs 18:24
-Proverbs 18:24
These are my notes from pages 45 and 46 of Derek Kidner's commentary on Proverbs (1964):
The good friend
1. Constancy is the first feature.
- 'Fair weather friends" contrasted.
- If you want true friends, be a true friend. Don't expect to receive something you are not giving.
- Be loyal. Don't drop old friends just to replace them with new ones.
2. Candour
- True friends rebuke each other.
- Flattery contrasted.
- Avoidance of candour may prove deadly.
- Be prepared not to be thanked until later if at all.
3. Counsel
- Cheer your friend on.
- Disagree or clash with you friend.
- Two sides to the same coin.
4. Tact
- Respect their feelings.
- Don't take advantage of, take for granted, act entitled towards, or impose upon.
- Duty of forethought: do not joke too far at their expense.
The vulnerability of friendship
- To be a true friend is to risk betrayal or estrangement.
- Close friendships need guarding.
- A tactless friend is less damaging than separation caused by malicious gossip.
- "The integrity of a friendship depends as much on spiritual resources as the individual."
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