"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity" (Proverbs 17:17). The Bible counts friendship among rare treasures: David and Jonathan, Ruth and Naomi, Paul and Timothy, bonds stronger than interest, sealed in faithfulness. Jesus himself raised the word to the highest rank: "I have called you friends" (John 15:15).
It also gives the mechanics: friends sharpen each other "as iron sharpens iron" (Proverbs 27:17), lift one another up (Ecclesiastes 4:10), and the greatest love is "to lay down one's life for his friends" (John 15:13).
Bible verses about friendship
« A friend loves at all times; and a brother is born for adversity. »
« Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. »
« Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. »
« Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend’s countenance. »
« A man of many companions may be ruined, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. »
« When he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. »
« For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls, and doesn’t have another to lift him up. »
« No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn’t know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you. »
Sermons about friendship
Frequently asked questions about friendship
How do I recognize a true friend according to the Bible?
In adversity: "a brother is born for adversity" (Proverbs 17:17). The true friend stays when there is nothing left to gain, tells the truth with love ("faithful are the wounds of a friend") and sharpens rather than flatters.
How do I make real friends?
By becoming one: faithfulness attracts faithfulness. Practically, the church is the biblical soil of friendship, serving together, sharing a table, praying for one another builds bonds that outings alone cannot.
Did Jesus have friends?
Yes, Lazarus, Martha and Mary, the twelve, and the inner circle of Peter, James and John. And he turned the master-servant relation around: "I have called you friends" (John 15:15). Friendship with God is not an image, it is an invitation.