Sometimes Friends are Like Dentists

Faithful are the wounds of a friend;
profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
Proverbs 27:6

Sometimes friends are like dentists...they shouldn't always tell you everything is OK, because that can be detrimental to your health. Last Wednesday was one of those days for me. There was something in my life that I needed to deal with before it got out of hand. And thanks to my friend, Dave, we were sitting there face-to-face dealing with it.

It all started about 3 months ago when he kindly confronted me on the subject. He said he saw something in my life that I had not noticed. He did it because he cared. He knew the truth might hurt, but he was willing to risk our relationship over the matter. I thought everything was OK, but Dave could see that it wasn't.

So last Wednesday he sat me down and we went through the painful process of working it out. He wouldn't let me just cover it up and demanded that we get to the root of the issue, so that it would not resurface again. Sin can be like that, right? If caught, we want to minimize and apologize... but often we aren't honest with ourselves and others and we don't deal with the real heart issue involved.

God says a good friend doesn't let a friend just keep on sinning; rather "if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness (ESV - Gal 6:1)". And he continues with a warning to the restorer... "pay close attention to yourselves, so that you are not tempted too (NET)."

It was painful, but later that night as I was healing, I was actually glad that the problem was discovered and healing was in process.

So what was it.....well in the spirit of full disclosure.... it was... a trip to my dentist. Yes Dave is in fact Dr. Conrad. And 3 months ago he noticed a cavity and scheduled for me to have it cleaned and capped. If it wasn't for Dr. Conrad decay would still be eating away at my teeth. And I couldn't help but see the parallel between how God says a good friend should be at the loving discovery by my dentist. Sometimes a friend needs to be like a dentist and sometimes your friend is your dentist.

May your friends courage to "wound" you and confront you on sin in yor life for, bring a smile to your pearly whites.