A Faithful Friend

In a Peanuts comic strip, Charlie Brown stops at the psychiatric help stand to talk with Lucy and confesses, "My trouble is I never know if I'm doing the right thing. I need to have someone around who can tell me when I'm doing the right thing." Lucy says, "Okay. You're doing the right thing. That'll be five cents, please!" Charlie Brown walks away with a smile on his face.

In a few minutes, he returns with a frown. "Back already?" asks Lucy. "What happened?" Charlie Brown says, "I was wrong. It didn't help. You need more in life than just having someone around to tell you when you're doing the right thing." Lucy says, "Now you've really learned something! That'll be another five cents please."

We all like having someone tell us when we do the right thing. And when we're doing the right thing, it's important to have friends who encourage us. But what we don't like so much is having someone tell us when we're do the wrong thing. It's not easy to hear someone say, "I'm worried about you. You've made a mistake. You don't want to end up in the direction you're headed." But that's just as important.

One of the qualities of a faithful friend is honesty even when the truth is painful. We all need someone who will love us enough not to let us head in a harmful direction, someone who with gentleness and love will help steer us back on the path of righteousness. Solomon put it this way:

"Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." (Proverbs 27:5-6)

Charlie Brown was right. You need more in life than just having someone around to tell you when you're doing the right thing. That'll be five cents, please!