17 Iron sharpens iron,
and one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17 CSB)

The ides that we are not in this life alone seems to escape some people. It would seem, statistically, that the COVID lockdown had two effects; it either drew people together or pushed them apart. Some reached out to ease the difficulty of being alone and others withdrew further into their shells.

I am a pretty solitary person, but I recognize my need for others. We are supposed to live in community with others, that is how God designed us. When we lose our community we lose ourselves to an extent.

I have had a number of instances of late where I recognized my need for close brothers to be there to sharpen myself, or to sharpen them. To be sure our edge becomes dull when our only whetstone is ourselves alone. I am not always my own best counsel. In fact, I am probably my own worst counsel if I am truthful. You see, when the only voice we listen to is our own the foolish things we do comes from the fools counsel we keep. And, yes I am speaking of myself, but maybe this resonates with you as well.

I can talk myself into or out of a lot of things that have a questionable basis. There is no balance in my arguments when there is no one there to state a counter opinion. Even when I do a good job of arguing the pro’s and con’s with myself I suffer from confirmation bias. Ever tried to talk yourself out of something you really want….confirmation bias.

Thus, we should try to stay away from the fools counsel that we become when we only listen to ourselves. The Spirit should be our first go to, but close friends need to play a big part in our lives to keep us honest and hone our edge.