Tough Friendship

I have heard of tough love, seems to be a buzz term that pops up on anything from a documentary of addicts to blogs on how to potty train a toddler. Tough friendship seems to be something that weighs on my mind a lot lately.  What do I mean by tough friendship?  Sure it's tough to be friends with someone who is going through a hard time or doesn't always treat you the way you treat them.  We have all been there.  What I am talking about when I refer to tough friendship is REAL friendship, the kind that isn't about keeping each other happy with compliments, remaining surface with one another and cutting ties if things get too rough or too deep.  

I recently came across a discussion on Galatians 4:12-20, where Paul speaks to the Galatians. In verse 15 Paul has a good message.  He is basically saying to a friend that they are a child of God, that they had a joyful life as His child.  He is also asking if they have forgotten who they are. When I witness a friend straying from the path God has intended for them, do I sit back or do I give a little tough friendship?

Facebook is a funny little peek in to people's lives.  Often people pride themselves on how many 'friends' they have.  But how many are truly their friends?  Case in point:  I was once 'friends' on Facebook with a woman who was having marital problems, her husband and her were no longer communicating.  The evolution of their problems was apparent in her online photo albums, gone were pictures of a fresh faced smiling wife with her husband and kids.  In their place was hundreds (literally) of snapshots of a woman I barely recognized in tight fitting revealing clothing out on the town with her 'friends.'  But were these women she was posing with really her friends?  I wonder if any of them ever asked her about her marriage or made a suggestion of how she could have saved it. What if one of her 'friends' would have offered to babysit so she could have a date  with her husband? I am sad to admit I really didn't know this woman well enough to say anything myself and I wish I would have been more of a Christian friend to her and was able to give some tough friendship. 

Tough friendship is difficult for me, I admit.  I often sound judgemental.  I have a lot of friends who express a desire to want to be more physically fit but when I invite them to fitness challenges or talk about eating healthy, I see some tune me out. I think they believe I am judging. But I believe being a true friend isn't always drowning our sorrows in cheese dip or trading 'feel sorry for me' stories, it is about helping one another be the best we can be as Christians spiritually, emotionally and physically.  Ephesians 4:15 reminds me to speak the truth in Love. I know I need to be more understanding of my friends feelings while still speaking to them in a truthful manner.  I pray God will guide my ways and tongue.  We can still have those cheese dip moments and request some pity of one another, but we must also sharpen one another.