A Genuine Friend

I have many friends but one characteristic that separates the friends from the genuine friends is honesty.  Although honesty hurts sometimes it is necessary in friendships.  There have been instances when instead of being honest with my friend I just told them what they wanted to hear.  The reality is that it may be intimidating to be honest with friends but it is worth it.  Last night I was being stubborn about a certain situation.  I went to my room not wanting to talk to anyone.  Suddenly one of my friends came to me and talked to me about why I was being stubborn and how I should act more maturely about the situation.  At first I was shocked and kind of upset that he was saying this stuff to me.  But as we kept talking I realized he was not doing it to make me feel bad, he was doing it because he cares about me and wants to help me grow.  We finished the conversation with him praying for me.  When he left I had a complete change of heart.  I knew that rather than being stubborn I should humble myself and face the situation maturely, which I ended up doing.  It probably took my friend, who I have not known for that long, a lot of courage to confront me like that.  He probably knew that I was not going to like what he had to say but he told me anyways because he knew it was the right thing to do.  That is what genuine friends do.  They do not lie and say what their friend wants to hear.  They do not get super upset with them and tell them off.  They confront their friend honestly and calmly.  This whole situation made me think about Ecclesiastes 4:10 which says, "If one falls down, his friend can help him up."  This is exactly what my friend did to me.  I am so grateful that my friend was honest with me.  He helped me up when my stubbornness was bringing me down.  I do not have many friends who are honest like this.  Let this be an encouragement for all of us as a group that when we see a member of circles or someone at school/work doing something he/she shouldn't be doing or see that they are down to have the courage to confront them and be honest in order that we may lift them up and help them grow.