Proverbs 27:9 (MSG)

9 Just as lotions and fragrance give sensual delight,

a sweet friendship refreshes the soul.

The book of Proverbs tells it best, just like the sweet fragrance and the

feel of wonderful lotions, a friendship refreshes you and brings you to a

better place in yourself. A good friendship refreshes your soul and adds

to you.

A real friendship strengthens you and is honest and refreshing. It is a

bond between two people that is honored and trusted. The hard things

can be spoken, and the joy and trust are like no other relationships.

There are things that you can say to a friend that you can not say to

your “life-long” mate. There is an understanding and a trust that is

sometimes never spoken, but completely understood through the

relationship. When I am down, I am lifted up by my friend.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, men and women are quite different in

more ways than physical.

We have different ways of handling problems, children, relationships,

love, well just about everything. Yet, with women, we have a common

bond that knits us together because we are so alike in many ways. We

understand each other. And the same is true for men. There is a

common “brotherhood” that a woman simply cannot understand.

Galatians 6:1 (NKJV)

Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual

restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest

you also be tempted.

Friends don’t judge, they love and restore! Our covenant of trust and

honor sees the love and not the sin. Love never considers a suffered

wrong, but love hopes all things and believes all things good to restore

and bring back to brand new. Refreshed and better than before.

Proverbs 17:17 (MSG)

17 Friends love through all kinds of weather,

and families stick together in all kinds of trouble.

I love the way God sees us. He sees us righteous and clean and washed

in the Blood of Jesus. To truly have the heart of God, we must see our

friends and our brothers and sisters, with the heart and eyes of God.

We shouldn’t consider their faults and mistakes, but we should see

them as whole and righteous the way God sees them.

Friends don’t run when things get hard, or when our expectations are

shattered in pieces. Love creates a bond that nothing can shatter. There

may be cracks, but love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all

things, and endures all things. I will bear through a friend’s faults. I will

believe the best when everything looks to the contrary. I will hope for the

best in all circumstances until the best is achieved. I will endure to the

end because they are my friend and our covenant doesn’t quit or give

up. It stands in the face of adversity and loves anyway. When everyone

else turns their back, I will stand because of my covenant of love. When

everyone else speaks ill of the one I love, I will speak what God says

and believe for restoration and I know that love will prevail. Love never

fails!

1 John 3:16 (NLT)

16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So,

we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.

Very rarely will we have to actually lay down our lives for our friends,

but would you? Does your covenant of love go that deep? Jesus’s love

went that deep. He looked at our condition and despair and said “…I

will go…” He became that sacrificial lamb for us. Sometimes we must

lay down our prayers, our time, our finances, our home, and our

comfort for our friends.

As brothers, sisters, and friends in Christ, we are called to lay down our

lives in covenant love for our friends. We should never see a brother

who is overtaken by a fault and not help them. We who are spiritual,

should lift them up to restore them into the right place, physically,

emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually.

Proverbs 18:24 (NKJV)

24 A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend

who sticks closer than a brother.

His name is Jesus! The greatest example of covenant love. He no longer

calls you servants, but friends. (John 15:15)

Next week we will be talking about:

The Importance of Covenant –

“The Covenant with Our Children”