Proverbs 27 Devotional

The Faithful Wounds of a Friend

“The wounds of a friend are faithful, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”Proverbs 27:6 (BSB)

Friends get a great deal of attention in Proverbs 27. An open rebuke is better than love kept hidden, and a friend's painful honesty is more faithful than an enemy's show of affection (27:5-6). A friend's counsel is as sweet as fragrant oil (27:9). People sharpen one another the way iron sharpens iron (27:17). Friendship here includes the courage to say hard things.

That kind of friendship is rare, because honesty is risky and flattery is easy. The chapter observes that praise tests a person the way fire tests silver and gold (27:21). Friends who tell the truth in love are a gift. Jesus is that kind of friend. He called his disciples friends, made known to them everything he had heard from the Father, and spoke of the greatest love as laying down one's life for one's friends, which is what he went on to do (John 15:13-15). Because his love is both honest and self-giving, his people can receive a friend's hard word without fear, and offer one with care.

To think about: Is there a friend whose honest word you have resisted, or one who needs a hard but loving word from you?