Proverbs 18:24 - Meaning and Application

Solomon here recommends friendship to us and shows, first, what we must do if we want to make and keep friends. We must show ourselves friendly. If we want friends and want to keep them, we must do more than avoid offending them or quarreling with them. We must love them, and let that love be seen in kind actions, open fellowship, warm welcome, and cheerful visits. Above all, we should do all the good we can for them and serve them in every way we are able. That is what it means to show ourselves friendly.

If you want to be loved, love others. The one who wants affection must give it, and the one who wants to be cherished must be the kind of person others can cherish.

Second, it is worth doing, because there is much comfort in a true friend. A brother is born for trouble, as Solomon said earlier (Proverbs 17:17). In hard times, we expect comfort and help from our family. Yet sometimes a friend, who is not related to us at all, proves more faithful than a brother. The bond of friendship can be stronger than blood, and when the test comes, such a friend may do more for us than a brother will. Christ is such a friend to all believers, one who sticks closer than a brother. So let them show themselves friendly to him.