Keep your friends close...

Proverbs 27:5-6:

Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.

Truer words were never uttered. But these are two different topics, with the same conclusion. Let's hit the first:

Don't hide love! Love is precious. The best place to see what the Bible says about love is in I Corinthians 13:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

If you love someone, tell them. It may be a risk, but it's better to tell someone and be let down than to hold it in and never take the chance.

But here is the common theme between these verses: rebuke is good! It may be painful, but it helps us grow. We only want to hear the good, but if we only hear the good, we cannot fix ourselves and make ourselves better. None of us are perfect, so we must know where we are imperfect to strive for the goal Jesus gave us in Matthew 5:48:

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

And this leads into the second verse:

Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.

Good stuff. It's a more lyrical version of "keep your friends close and your enemies closer." The person who only tells you sugary sweet stuff about yourself may not be your friend, and even the friend who refuses to be honest with you may not be doing you any favors. It is the friend who lets you know when you are falling shy of the mark that is the friend you want to keep close.

If you are ever in a disagreement with someone close to you or having a difficult situation, and you ask your friends where things are wrong, the one who tells you kindly but directly that you may be the problem - that may be the truest of your friends. When you feel in your gut that turning that you know they are right yet you don't want to accept it, remember to keep that person close: they will help guide you ever closer to who you want to be.