A friend will tell you something – even though it may hurt – to make you a better person. Let’s say you are eating dinner with a friend and he or she gets food stuck in his or her front teeth. Do you say something? Yes! A good friend will always help a friend so he or she doesn’t look like an idiot. Many times, this may feel like a wounding, but a friend has to do what a friend has to do. Friends must be honest with each other in a loving way. This same principle can be applied to our spiritual lives. If someone feels guilty about something he or she has done, then we must be the one to say that the guilt stems from conviction. We need to be the one who loves a friend enough to share the antidote to guilt. When we keep the love of Christ from that person, we are keeping him or her from eternal life with Christ, which is the exact opposite of what we should want for a friend.

• Write down the last time you were honest with a friend, and it helped your friendship grow.