As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. PROVERBS 27:17 NIV 

There are some friends, the ones we smile at and wave to in church or the ones we make small talk with at parties, who we may not go deep with. They won’t know when our marriage is difficult. They won’t know when we’re having surgery to remove fibroids. They won’t know when we’re aching over a family member’s addiction.  And that’s okay. 

When we look at the life of Jesus, we see that He had concentric circles of relation-ships. There were seventy-two followers He sent out to share the good news. There were twelve in whom He invested His time and energy. And within that dozen were three—Peter, James, and John—who were closest to Jesus.  

It’s okay that you’re not dishing about your gyno-surgery at the Pastor’s Anniversary Lunch. But you do need to have people with whom you can share the intimate details of your life. And Proverbs 27:17 announces, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” That means that there are friends who make us better. They push us to make an appointment with a marriage counselor. They drive us to and from surgery. They comfort us when we’re sad. Invest in the kinds of deeper friendships where you are sharpening and strengthening one another. 

Not every friend tells us the honest truth or pushes us to be better.   

Think about those friends in your life who have truly sharpened you. Who are those friends and how have they showed up for your life? 

God, I’m not interested in shallow relationships. I want to go deep with a few friends, making them better and being made better by them. Bless these friendships, Lord. Amen.