7 Signs of TRUE Friendship

A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. - Proverbs 18:24 NIV

The word “friend” is highly overrated in this day and age. To be honest, what most people call “friends” are actually just acquaintances. You can’t really say that you have 5000 Facebook friends! Those are people that you barely know. If in a lifetime, you find one true friend, you’re lucky, if you find two, then you’re favored, and if you find three, you’re highly blessed. The question is how can you tell whether someone is a true friend to you? How many true friends do you have? Also, are you a true friend to those who call you “friend”? Keep reading to get some answers to these questions. When you’re through, hopefully, you’ll have better perspective of who your friends are and how to be a better friend. Here are 7 signs of a true friendship:

1. A true friend accepts you

Friends don’t try to change who you are. They love you irrespective of your flaws. Now I’m in no way saying that friends always agree with each other. There can be disagreements from time to time. However, these differences serve to open one another up to different ways of viewing life. Friends try to view the world from the perspective of the other person. Also, accepting who you are doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t seek to grow and improve. Just continuing in negativity and expecting someone to accept you isn’t being a good friend. If there is something you can do about any of your flaws then work on that. Of course, your friends will encourage you in the process.

2. A true friend is evergreen

What this means is that a friend sticks around in both the good times and the bad. Life is difficult and there will be times when it seems like the whole world is against you. During such seasons, you can count on a good friend to continue encouraging and supporting you. The true test of friendship is when you’re facing trials. Everyone can be a good friend during good times; it’s not that hard. The moment someone walks away during your dark periods, that was just a temporal acquaintance. Don’t waste your energy on trying to win such people back. If people can walk away from you, let them walk. Rather focus on those you still have with you; keep pouring into them as they pour into you.

3. A true friend celebrates your successes

Have you ever shared your win with someone who downplays it? You may have met that person who somehow has always done something more impressive than what you just achieved. That’s a clear sign of toxicity and fake friendship. Another thing to look out for is envy. You can tell when someone envies you or is jealous by how they respond to your good news. A friend will be genuinely happy for you when you succeed. A friend truly desires the best for you and will be there with a bottle of champagne when you win.

4. A true friend makes time for you

Have you ever been in a one-sided relationship or friendship? It seems like you’re chasing after the person. Somehow you get to be the one who always initiates conversations or you always reach out yet this person never reaches out to you. That definitely isn’t a healthy friendship. True friendship is reciprocal. A friend will make time for you. A friend will make plans to see you. If your so-called friend never has time to call, then you should probably reevaluate that friendship. Also, you should make it a priority to spend quality time with your friends.

5. A true friend will be honest with you

There’s a popular phrase these days among youths which is “keeping it 100”. This means being honest. A friend will always tell you the truth even when it hurts. If you have bad breath, people will simply avoid you but your friend will tell you in a nice and loving way to take care of it. You need someone to be real with you even when others won’t. You need that person to tell you when you’re losing yourself or when you begin spiraling in the wrong direction. A true friend will help you to make the right decisions.

6. A true friend encourages you

Have you ever shared your goal with someone who tells you to drop it? Or someone who tells you to quit since you’ve been struggling for over a year now? That’s clearly not a friend. A friend will rather boost your morale when you’re feeling down. How someone reacts to your dreams or aspirations determines whether they’re really your friend. While a friend will encourage you to advance, a friend will also be realistic when need be. If you keep losing money on a business idea for years, a friend will also advise you to consider other options. However, the manner of approach will be kind and with the objective of seeing you succeed.

7. A true friend will support you publicly

There’s nothing worse than someone who supports you privately but keeps quiet when you’re put on the spot for whatever reason. Worse still if this person openly stands against you. Now, of course there are times when you’ll be out of line for some reason. What a friend will do in this case is try to mitigate the situation and then talk to you privately about your mistakes in the context of the issue. If it’s for something worthwhile that you believe in, your friend should also be ready to stand with you publicly.

Those were 7 signs of true friendship. What do you think? There are probably other points not listed here. Please do share any additional signs in the comments. We all need to have and be genuine friends to others. If we all work on being good friends, then no one will worry about having good friends. Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to our blog for more enriching content. Thank you for reading and until next time, BESTech remains your BEST bet.