True friends

Austin Gardner • July 19, 2022

I don’t ever want it to be said that I was a silent friend!

Friendship is one of the sweetest gifts that God has ever given us. We can't make sure our friends stay friendly but we certainly can be the friend we believe in. John C. Maxwell writes the following in his book Winning with People: Discover the People Principles That Work for You Every Time.


Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” I don’t ever want it to be said that I was a silent friend!


False friends are like our shadows, keeping close to us while we walk in the sunshine but leaving us when we cross into the shade. Real friends stick with us when trouble comes. As the old saying goes: in prosperity our friends know us; in adversity we know our friends.


If there are people in your life who would go to battle with you, value them, for they are rare indeed.


It’s said that a friend is someone . . .

 

who will keep your secrets and never divulge them—even if tortured or tempted with chocolate (or in my wife’s case, Krispy Kreme doughnuts).

 

who will quietly destroy the photograph that makes you look like a beached whale.

 

who knows you don’t know what you’re talking about but will let you reach that conclusion independently.

 

who goes on the same diet with you—and off it with you too.



Read other posts about friendship


A True Friend Sticks

Showing Real Friendship

Are you a real friend


By Austin Gardner July 30, 2026
Why the Great Commission Was Never Meant for a Select Few
By Austin Gardner July 29, 2026
A short history of missions, and the question it leaves us with
By Austin Gardner July 28, 2026
What National Believers Wish Every Missionary Understood Before Arriving
By Austin Gardner July 27, 2026
What Jesus' incarnation teaches missionaries about belonging, humility, and reaching people from the inside instead of the outside.
By Austin Gardner July 26, 2026
The Single Most Important Area of Ministry
By Austin Gardner July 25, 2026
Why Language Is the Doorway to Belonging
By Austin Gardner July 24, 2026
How Deep Relationships Turn Strangers into Family
By Austin Gardner July 23, 2026
Why Identification Makes a Message Land
By Austin Gardner July 22, 2026
How Hudson Taylor's humility transformed missions by putting people before culture
By Austin Gardner July 21, 2026
What Paul Teaches Us About Reaching People