15 Bible Verses about Friends and Friendship
Friendship is a cherished gift that brings joy, support, and companionship. The Bible offers many insights into the nature of true friendship, emphasizing its importance and the qualities that make a friendship strong and lasting. Here are 15 Bible verses that celebrate friendship and provide wisdom on how to cultivate meaningful relationships.
1. Proverbs 17:17
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”
2. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow, but woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up.”
3. John 15:13
“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
4. Proverbs 27:17
“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”
5. 1 Thessalonians 5:11
“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”
6. Colossians 3:12-14
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”
7. Proverbs 18:24
“A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”
8. Matthew 18:20
“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
9. Philippians 1:3-5
“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.”
10. Proverbs 12:26
“The righteous chooses his friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.”
11. 1 Samuel 18:1
“As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.”
12. Friendship Is Committed: Ruth 1:16-17
“But Ruth said, ‘Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried.’”
13. James 4:4
“You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
14. Romans 12:10
“Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”
15. Proverbs 25:17
“Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor’s house, lest he have his fill of you and hate you.”
These verses remind us that true friendship is rooted in love, support, and mutual respect. Whether you're looking to strengthen existing friendships or seek out new ones, the Bible provides timeless wisdom on how to cultivate relationships that honor God and bring joy to our lives. Embrace the gift of friendship and let it flourish!