June 1

Then Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul and said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David; he has not sinned against you. In fact, his actions have been highly beneficial to you. — 1 Sam 19:4 BSB

One quality of true friendship is the loyalty that speaks up for a friend in their absence when derogatory things are said about them. Few things show human weakness in a worse light than the all-too-common willingness to hear bad things about even our closest friends. We must admit that there is something wrong in human nature that often delights in learning about the faults, mistakes, or failures of others. At the very least, we have to acknowledge that there is a strong tendency in this direction.

But we should aim to set an example of friendship that is free from such malice. We ought to refuse to believe evil things about our friends or even to listen to rumors or insinuations against them. Instead of taking pleasure in hearing harmful things about them or learning of their mistakes, such reports should grieve us. The law of Christian love calls us to defend our friend’s character as we would our own. We are, after all, our brother’s keeper.