There’s a difference between being friends and being friendly. We are told to be friendly to other people, but not friends with everyone! What’s the difference?

There’s a difference between being friends and friendly

Being Friends

A Friend is someone that is there for you when you need them. They usually stick closer to you than a brother. See Proverbs 18:24. We don’t have to be friends with everyone! The Bible even tells us not to make friends with angry people. See Proverbs 22:24.  It is always best to make friends of godly folks. That is because iron sharpens iron. Associated by our friends, choose them carefully! They might even have an influence on us too. This friend is also not afraid to tell you the truth.

Being Friendly

When a person is being friendly they are nice to you. They may even seem like a friend to you. We must be friendly to everyone! We must do good to everyone, even those who do evil to us. It tells us to love our enemies actually. You can find out about that in the Matthew and Luke. Plus, other places throughout the Bible. Being nice or friendly to someone often can be hard. It might be hard when that person does evil or bad things to us. But if we only love those who love us, what kind of love is that? See Matthew & Luke. Too often, being friendly, we will say what the other person wants to hear.

Revenge?

“There is a temptation when we have conflicts with others to brood over the real or perceived wrong done to us and to seek revenge, but this is the exact opposite of what we should do, both on Christian principles, and in terms of good human relations. Every Christian knows that we are supposed to turn the other cheek and to leave vengeance to God, but sometimes we have so much trouble letting go of what was said or done to us that we feel a sense of righteousness in plotting our revenge. If you really cannot get over your desire for revenge, perhaps you can still turn it around and make acting like a good Christian the best revenge. It’s always best to react to unkind words or deeds with kindness and composure, and then your reputation (and your soul) remain untarnished. Often the best way to handle these things is to tell the other person that your feelings were hurt and that you would rather be friends than enemies, and to seek sincere reconciliation. Let’s face it, we all need more friends and fewer enemies, and the work of keeping friends as friends takes serious effort. Leave justice and revenge to God.” – Christopher Simon

Differance

Diplateevo.com summed it up like this. “Friendliness is usually associated with a warm smile, perfect conversation, genuine attitude, etc. But a true friend is someone who will say it as it is, not hide things from you, and be completely honest and real.”

None the less, we are not to seek revenge. God is the one who gets the revenge. See Romans 12:17-19, Deuteronomy 32:35, Leviticus 19:18

About the Author

Steve Patterson

A Christian Blogger that enjoys blogging about the Bible, Theology, God, Jesus Christ, Christian Music, Family, Cats, Odd Holidays, sewing and much more. I have been blogging since 2004, however, I have been blogging on Courageous Christian Father since 2012. I enjoy listening to Christian Music. I am married with 1 daughter, 2 step-sons and a step daughter.

See author's posts