Faithful Friendship
READ
Today, Solomon presents us with a stark contrast: unreliable friends lead to ruin, but a faithful friend sticks closer than family. In a world where we've confused acquaintances with friends and followers with community, this ancient wisdom feels more relevant than ever.
Let’s take a moment to read Proverbs 18:24:
"One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."
REFLECT
The phrase "comes to ruin" sounds dramatic, but think about what happens when you're surrounded by people who aren't truly there for you. You learn to protect yourself, to keep everyone at arm's length, to never really be known. You become isolated in a crowd. You stop trusting. You stop being vulnerable. That's a kind of ruin—not a sudden collapse, but a slow withering of your ability to experience authentic connection.
Unreliable friends show up when it's convenient and disappear when it costs them something. They're present for the party but absent in the pain. They make promises they don't keep and commitments they don't honor. And here's the hard truth: sometimes we've been that unreliable friend. We've ghosted people when the relationship got complicated. We've been too busy when someone needed us. We've stayed surface-level because depth requires risk.
But then Solomon introduces this beautiful alternative: a friend who sticks closer than a brother. In ancient culture, family bonds were considered the most unbreakable connections. Yet Solomon says there's a friendship that surpasses even that—a relationship built not on obligation or blood, but on choice and faithfulness.
This is where faithfulness becomes tangible. A friend who sticks is someone who remains when everyone else walks away. They're the person who shows up in your darkest season and doesn't try to fix everything—they just stay. They know your worst moments and your biggest failures, and they keep choosing you anyway. They tell you the truth even when it's uncomfortable because they love you too much to let you stay stuck.
What makes this kind of friendship possible? It's not perfection—it's persistence. It's the daily choice to keep stepping toward relationship even when it's awkward, difficult, or disappointing. It's answering the call even when you're tired. It's having the hard conversation instead of ghosting. It's forgiving the forty-first time, not just the fortieth. That's faithfulness—living in a state of being full of trust that keeps you connected even when disconnecting feels safer.
Here's what's remarkable: Jesus modeled this kind of friendship perfectly. He stuck with disciples who misunderstood Him, denied Him, and abandoned Him. He called them friends, not servants. And He literally laid down His life because that's what faithful friendship does—it costs you something. When we've experienced that kind of radical, faithful friendship from Jesus, it transforms how we show up for others.
You can't be this kind of friend to everyone—there's wisdom in having boundaries and recognizing seasons. But you can ask yourself: Who are the people God has placed in my life that I'm called to stick with? And am I being the kind of friend who creates freedom and stability for others to grow, or am I adding to their experience of unreliable relationships?
RESPOND
Take a moment to process what God might be leading you to do in light of what you read.
Who has been a friend who "sticks closer than a brother" in your life, and how has their faithfulness impacted you?
Is there a relationship where you've been unreliable—where you need to step back toward consistency and faithfulness?
What makes it difficult for you to "stick" with people through hard seasons, and how can Jesus's faithful friendship with you change that?
REST
Take a moment to rest in God’s presence and consider one thing you can take away from your time reading, then close your devotional experience by praying:
Jesus, thank You for being the friend who sticks closer than a brother, who never gives up on me even when I give up on myself. Forgive me for the times I've been unreliable, when I've walked away when things got hard. Make me the kind of friend who stays, who shows up, who keeps choosing people even when it costs me something. Help me to be faithful, not perfect, trusting that Your love in me is enough. Amen.