These scriptures on friendship encourage us that God created friends to be a great source of love, joy and encouragement.
16 Aug, 2018
The Bible offers wonderful friendship verses that celebrate the blessing of great friends in our lives.
In this collection of friendship verses and proverbs we also find advice about how to forgive others, as well as words of great wisdom on what to do if we find ourselves in difficult situations with friendships.
We invite you to select your favourite Bible verse about friendship and forward to your loved ones, or simply enjoy reflecting on these uplifting prayers for friendship.
All of these Bible verses about friendship have been taken from the NIV version of the Bible
These scriptures on friendship encourage us that God created friends to help us. Our friends can be a great source of love, joy and encouragement. Take heart from the truth that we’re not meant to carry our burdens alone.
The book of Proverbs has a lot to say about friendship. Solomon’s proverbs teach us how to seek out good friends that will help us during tough times. These proverbs about friends remind us that good friends aren’t just close friends - it helps if they’re wise friends.
You may also be interested in these uplifting friendship quotes to share.
These Bible passages about friendship give us practical examples of how we can be loyal to others, even when friendships go through challenges. They teach us about the values of a good friend: faithfulness, respect and sacrifice.
Jonathan and David
1 Samuel 18:1-3 “After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.”
David and Jonathan had a sacrificial friendship. They were friends even though their situation made them rivals for the crown - Jonathan being the eldest son of King Saul and David, the son of Jesse of Bethlehem. Jonathan was incredibly loyal towards David, warning him of King Saul’s intent to kill him.
Ruth and Naomi
Following a severe famine, Elimelech and his wife Naomi took their two sons to live in the country of Moab. Tragically Elimelech died, followed years later by Naomi’s two sons who by that point had married two women called Naomi and Orpha.
Instead of returning to her home, Ruth insisted on accompanying Naomi to Israel.
Ruth 1:16-17 “But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”
Ruth stuck by her mother-in-law during an extremely challenging time. Despite being from different cultures, places and generations, Naomi and Ruth established a deep bond. Their commitment to each other is a great example of Christ-like sacrifice. Ruth ended up marrying one of Naomi’s relatives, Boaz.
Barnabas and Paul
One of the most powerful friendships in the New Testament is between Paul and Barnabas. Together they launched the first missionary journey and they were a great church-planting team. For just over two years, they planted over a dozen congregations.
On their secondary missionary journey, Paul suggested they take John Mark and the two men had “a sharp disagreement” (Acts 15:36) and ended up going on separate journeys. However, despite their disagreement these two friends continued to have respect for each other.
Start a new friendship today by sponsoring a child with Compassion. Share the gift of friendship with a child born into extreme poverty and help them access health care, education and the support of a caring church community.
Your sponsorship will be a unique relationship where you’ll exchange letters with your sponsored child and see the difference you’re making over time. Begin a friendship that is sure to change your life and theirs for the better.
It’s amazing that God doesn’t call us to live this life alone. We’re called to support one another and carry each others’ burdens. Let these friendship verses encourage you to seek out community today.
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WORDS : Becca Stanley
PHOTOS : Compassion International