Last time, we began looking at the fight for friendship by talking about David and Jonathan (see 1 Samuel 17-18).

As you study their story, you will see these guys were good for one another. In fact, I want to draw out a few key principles from their story for us to apply to this important matter of friendship.

First, a true friend pushes me to grow. We’ve all heard sayings like, “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.” In all likelihood, you will become like the people with which you choose to be friends.

Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” True friends are inclined to push each other to grow rather than settling for mutual mediocrity.

Isolation is one of Satan’s favorite strategies to defeat us. He will do whatever he can do to keep you disconnected and out of community. He wants to separate us from the relationships that can have the most positive impact on our life.

You may feel isolated and alone right now. Maybe you’re sitting on the sidelines waiting for a friend to come your way. Perhaps it is time for you to take the first step toward investing in the kind of friendship that you know you need. Be willing to fight for these relationships. We are just too busy for them to happen otherwise.

For relationships to flourish and grow, you must be willing to invest the time and energy to make it happen. But the payoff is well worth the investment. We must be willing to fight even for established friendships. Because eventually, every friendship will be tested. Time, distance, changing priorities and so many things make maintaining friendship a challenge.

As soon as David and Jonathan got together, they began building their friendship. But it wasn’t long until their friendship was tested. David and Jonathan were similar in age. They had a lot in common.

The biggest difference would have been that David was an outsider and Jonathan was an insider. Jonathan was in line to become king next. Even though David was outside the family heritage, he was the one getting all of the attention.

There is a little in between the lines reading to be done in 1 Samuel 18:5, but this passage explains how David was promoted over Jonathan, the king’s son.

“Whatever Saul asked David to do, David did it successfully. So Saul made him a commander over the men of war, an appointment that was welcomed by the people and Saul’s officers alike.”

This leads to a second principle on friendship, which is where we will begin next time.

Steve Greene is the lead pastor of The Point in Seymour. Read his blog at pastorgreene.wordpress.com or email him at [email protected]. Send comments to [email protected].