Needle Love — Proverbs 27:6

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*Proverbs 27:6 (NKJV) Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.*

What it is speaking to me:

"Faithful are the wounds of a friend." There is a kindness that tells the truth even when it's uncomfortable. It reminds me of splinters.

Did you ever get a splinter in your foot as a kid? Like a good, deep splinter? When I would get one, you would hope that there was enough still sticking out of your foot that Mom or Dad could get it out with a pair of tweezers. But if it had gone too deep, or when they tried with tweezers and part of it broke off in your foot under the skin, you knew what was coming next: the needle.

A needle was the worst. They would have to poke and prod into your foot, making the wound deeper so they could dig out the splinter. It hurt. A lot. Mom or Dad would try to make it easier by making popcorn and turning on a movie while they worked on the foot, but it only helped a bit.

We tend to think of love as the thing that is all about making people feel good. Comfortable. Affirmed. And most of the time that is what love does. But Solomon flips the script here. He describes "needle love," the kind of love that hurts, but the goal is to get that splinter out.

An enemy will flatter you because they don't care what happens to you next. To continue the analogy, they will just stroke your foot and avoid causing you pain, all the while your foot is getting infected by the splinter.

A friend will get out the needle, risk the relationship to tell you something true, because they DO love you. Because they don't want you to get infected. I think about the handful of people in my life who have actually done this for me, who sat across from me and said the hard thing instead of the easy thing. It didn't feel good in the moment. It rarely does. But every single time, days, weeks, or months later, I could see the wound had done exactly what it was supposed to do. It got that splinter out that needed to go.

Needle love isn't a fun love all the time, but it is REAL love. Don't be afraid of those who bring you a needle; you might not see the splinter in your own heart.

What is it saying to you?

Who has been "faithful" enough to wound you with the truth?

Is there someone who needs your needle love?

What are we going to do about it?

Identify a conversation you've been avoiding because the honest version might sting. Pray for wisdom, then have that conversation with kindness and love.