Two are better than one

Life is a not a cakewalk. Some parts are tougher than others—much tougher. If you’ve lived more than five minutes you know this to be true.

The writer of Ecclesiastes knows this. As he describes the ups and downs of life—and yes, he has a tendency to focus more on the downs than the ups—he comes to appreciate that God has given us certain things to help.

Like other people.

“Two are better than one,” he writes, “because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10).

He specifically mentions falling. On the surface, he could be talking about literally falling to the ground. Makes sense. Another person can physically help them up. 

But people fall in other ways too, don’t they? They fall emotionally. They fall spiritually. They fall into sin. 

When that happens, two are better than one. 

Ray Ortlund defines friendship like this: “When someone loves you at all times, good and bad, and they don’t have to but they choose to—that person is a friend.”*

Sometimes you are the one who does the falling. Sometimes you are the one who does the helping. Either way, true friends are one of the ways God pours grace into our lives. 

What if you considered friendship to be a more proactive part of your faith? 

“When someone loves you at all times, good and bad, and they don’t have to but they choose to—that person is a friend.”

Notes:

-*Sam Allberry, 7 Myths About Singleness (Wheaton: Crossway, 2019), 140), 55.
-Bible quotes, ESV.