Day 2731 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Proverbs 17:17 NIV

You can tell who your true friends are by how they react whenever adversity happens. Sadly, our world has accepted such a weak idea of what friendship really is that many are surrounded by hordes of people who are no more their friends than the strangers who pass them at random throughout the day. It's become a numbers game, and whenever anything becomes about having large numbers, the quality becomes overlooked and ignored. But when it comes to the relationships we have in our lives, quality will always be exponentially more important than quantity.

One of the biggest concerns for modern-day friendship is what we can offer one another. What do we gain? How do we benefit each other? What's in it for me? That's the one question that seems to always be a factor in nearly every choice we make in life anymore. It's all always based on us and what we gain with very little concern about what we give in return. That definition of 'friendship' is not only hollow and meaningless, but it's also made true friends even more difficult to find.

You see, in a world that has widely accepted that nonsense, the majority of people have given up doing things any other way. The old-fashioned idea of friendship where you genuinely love another person, want the best for them, and will even be willing to lay down your life to help them is all but gone. It's endangered. It's fading quick. It's becoming one more casualty of our fast-paced, self-centered, loveless, compassion-lacking, ego-centric world. If anything requires anything from us then we bail because we only want things that bring something valuable to our lives, not something that may take something from us.

Nobody is willing to risk anything anymore. They're not willing to put others first. They're not willing to speak the truth to those around them. They're not willing to seek out the path of mutual growth and improvement. No, these days being someone's friend only means you agree with whatever they say and believe, keep your mouth shut when you don't, and simply go away when you can no longer seem to keep your boat attached to theirs.

It's all become temporary. It's all seen as something that can simply be thrown out and forgotten whenever it has finished serving its purpose. Friendship today is nothing more than some temporary alliance built on somewhat similar interests wherein each party thinks they're the most important part of the group and has no problems in treating their friends like tools to be used rather than opportunities to be sewn and watered and nurtured and appreciated.

Having walked on both sides of the quantity and quality divide, I can say that today's version of friendship is truly sad. God didn't give us all these people around us for us to see them as tools to use in some effort to make our lives better. He didn't surround us with people who are only there to bring something we want into our lives. He put us all here so that we could help make each other better, smarter, stronger, and more compassionate. Friendship is our chance to enrich the lives of others, not use them and toss them aside when they no longer serve any purpose.

This past week, adversity hit my family like never before. Been sitting/laying in beds and chairs both in a hospital and now at home struggling to get my mind to work like normal after what I think is fair to say was one of the worst moments of our lives so far. And through it all, this gratitude has never left me. Gratitude for the family I've been given that have always stuck closer to me than I deserve. Gratitude for the friends who have taken their time to send their well-wishes and toss up some highly needed prayers. Gratitude for those who kept my family and I in their hearts as we've pressed through this extremely trying time.

To me, that's what it's about. It's about the connections. It's the compassion. It's the gathering together to lift one another up and support each other whenever life hits hard and leaves someone broken and hurting. Friendship is something meant to help lead us through the trials and tribulations that we face in life, not something that gives up, cuts bait, and runs away when it gets hard. But again, that's in many ways all that friendship is anymore. It's just about numbers. People want to see a huge sum in their lists of friend and followers, but aren't interested in doing anything hard or challenging to keep them.

Folks, please stop taking the people in your life for granted. Someday, you will hope to find someone there to lean on. Someday you will need a little help. Someday, you may be able to be a little help. That's what this is all about. Being there for one another. Helping one another. Making each other better. Walking side by side through the storms we face so that nobody has to feel like they're doing it alone. We each have that chance to be the brothers and sisters God created us to be. It's time we stop letting those chances pass us by because it's how we show our love for others that says the most about who we really are inside.

The truth is that you don't need a million friends. All you need is a few people who genuinely care about you and who you carry the same love for in return. Numbers don't matter in this game. Because when everything crashes down and the numbers dwindle, all you'll have left is the hope that there are some true friends among that once large crowd of consorts. So focus on building real, deep, meaningful relationships because when life gets weird, those are the ones that will be there to rely on and get you through.

And set yourself on being a good friend as well. Be someone who puts others first. Be the first to ask if someone else needs anything. Be the one to send the text or make the call. Put in the effort to let someone else know that their presence in your life means something and that you’re thankful for them. After all, if we're only interested in someone else because they can do something for us, then we're not a friend, we're a consumer. We should value the person, not what it is we think they do or do not have to offer us.

#LeaveNoSoulUntold