RealSample

Think about your closest friendships. What makes those people good friends? Can they make you laugh, like the same music, or talk until all hours of the night? Those are all great qualities to have in a friendship — but are they the most important? It's easy to present our friendships as the best ones, but our ability to be real with one another counts.

The book of Proverbs has a lot to say about what's important to look out for in a friend and how to be a real friend. This verse mentions "fostering love," which means being able to hold space for a friend's emotional needs. Building good friendships sounds simple enough, but the verse mentions "repeating the matter" or continuing to hurt one another. We can't change the fact that we'll hurt each other once in a while, but we can care enough to apologize and try to do better.

What are some other qualities that are important in a friend? Do you have those qualities as a friend?