In what ways can we support friends facing trials, unlike Job's friends? Job 6:27—A Cautionary Snapshot “You would even cast lots for the fatherless and make merchandise of your friend.” Job exposes how his companions treated him like a problem to solve or a wager to win, not a person to love. Keep Friendship Personal, Not Transactional • Remember names, anniversaries, and details of the struggle. • See your friend as priceless, never a project. • Proverbs 17:17—“A friend loves at all times…” Listen More, Talk Less • Sit beside them before you speak over them. • James 1:19—“Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak…” • Silence that shares the burden often comforts more than hurried advice. Stay Humble and Avoid Blame • Resist the urge to explain why suffering came. • Romans 12:15—“Weep with those who weep.” • Matthew 7:12—Treat their pain as you would want yours treated. Comfort with the Comfort We’ve Received • Share how God met you in past trials without making their story about you. • 2 Corinthians 1:3-4—God “comforts us…so that we can comfort those in any trouble.” Offer Practical Help • Galatians 6:2—“Carry one another’s burdens.” • Provide meals, childcare, rides, paperwork assistance—concrete acts that preach louder than words. Speak Scripture for Hope, Not for Hurt • Choose passages that lift rather than lecture. • Ephesians 4:29—Use words “helpful for building up the one in need.” • Read Psalm 34:18, Isaiah 41:10, or John 16:33 aloud as gentle anchors. Protect Their Dignity and Story • Keep confidences; don’t broadcast their struggle. • Colossians 4:6—Let speech be “gracious, seasoned with salt.” • Avoid comparing their pain to someone else’s or minimizing it. Encourage Endurance and Eternal Perspective • Hebrews 10:24-25—spur them “to love and good deeds…encourage one another.” • James 5:11—Job’s perseverance reminds us the Lord has “an outcome” in view. Putting It All Together Presence, patience, and practical love stand in sharp contrast to Job’s friends. Treat the hurting as treasures, listen long, speak life-giving truth, and shoulder tangible burdens. In doing so we mirror Christ, who never makes merchandise of His friends but “loves them to the end” (cf. John 13:1). |
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