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St John Chrysostom on What a True Friend Does
What the video says
A true friend does not seize upon every careless word or interpret every mistake in the worst possible way. He makes allowances for weakness, stretches out his hand when you fall, and wants to see you standing again. Genuine friendship is like an unbreakable wall that even the devil cannot break.
Key moments
- A true friend does not seize upon every careless word or interpret every mistake in the worst possible way.
- He makes allowances for your weakness.
- He stretches out his hand when you fall.
- He wants to see you standing again.
- Genuine friendship is like an unbreakable wall that even the devil cannot break.
A short teaching drawn from Saint John Chrysostom's Homily 40 on the Acts of the Apostles, presented in paraphrase. The saint describes the marks of a true friend. A true friend does not seize upon every careless word or interpret every mistake in the worst possible way. Instead, he makes allowances for weakness, since he knows that everyone stumbles.
When a friend falls, the true friend stretches out his hand to lift him up and wants to see him standing again. Chrysostom contrasts this with the person who watches for faults and uses them to wound. The homily closes with an image of genuine friendship as an unbreakable wall that even the devil cannot break.
The post is tagged with themes of love, the saints, the Bible and Orthodox Christianity, and offers the teaching as a brief reflection on friendship in the Christian life.
Main points
- Paraphrased from Saint John Chrysostom's Homily 40 on the Acts of the Apostles.
- A true friend does not seize on every careless word or read every mistake in the worst way.
- He makes allowances for weakness and stretches out his hand when you fall.
- He wants to see you standing again.
- Genuine friendship is an unbreakable wall that even the devil cannot break.