Proverbs - Maintaining Relationships

Proverbs 27:10

Thine own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not; neither go into thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity:

for better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off.

Maintaining relationships is a sign of mature love.  We should be cultivating new friends and revisiting friends from the past.  Sometimes we can rely upon family without realizing the Lord has put friends in our lives to pour into us things outside of the familiar.  Friends come form a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds and ethnic upbringings.  Some are further along in the Lord and others are excited new believers.  What a privilege it is to know so many people.  They each contribute so much to us and we should be careful to affirm and nurture our relationships with them.  Sometimes a new friend is who the Lord wants to use rather than someone we are used to running to.  Be sensitive to who the Lord has placed as a near neighbor and be aware that they may, in fact, be who the Lord wants you to run to in the day of calamity.  Better is a neighbor that is near than a brother who is far off.