Hello and welcome to a piece of peace, your weekly dose of motivation and inspiration.

This week I would like to share with you on the topic, “Camouflaged Friends”.

We all have them. Those friends we know we do not like, and they also do not like us but we all pretend to be completely fine with each other whenever we meet. A part of you gets a sinking feeling because you know for that brief couple of seconds, which sometimes feels like an eternity, you will have to be fake and pretend that you completely love them.

Those acquaintances are easier to handle. You simply avoid them or fully commit to either being friends or not. What I want to share with you today relates to the friends, who are close enough to mimic the characteristics of true friends but deep inside, are plotting to take you down. Those are the dangerous ones because you do not see them coming and usually, it is too late by the time you do.

Here is a little story I came across a while ago which gave me a lot to think about.

There was once a woman who had a pet snake that she loved very much. The snake was about 7 feet long and one day it just stopped eating. After several weeks of trying everything she could to get the snake to eat the woman took it to the vet. The woman explained the situation to the vet and he replied “I see…let me ask you has your snake been sleeping with you at night or snuggling real close and stretching his self out?” the woman replied “Yes! Everyday and it makes me so sad that I can’t help him feel better.”

The Vet says “Madam. Your snake is not sick; it has been preparing to eat you. He’s been sizing you up everyday so he knows how big he has to be and not eating so he has enough room to digest you.” Moral of the story, just because someone acts like a friend, it does not mean their true intentions for being in your life is as it may appear.

It is imperative to understand your inner circle. Those closest to you are usually the ones that share your most confidential thoughts and secrets to the outside world. They are the ones that provide the insight about something you trusted them to keep secret.

The concept is broken down in even simpler and more authoritative language in the Bible. In Jeremiah, we are given the instruction, Let everyone beware of his neighbor, and put no trust in any brother, for every brother is a deceiver, and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. This may seem a bit extreme, but the salient point of the message is, you can never fully put your trust in another person.

As humans we are designed to make mistakes and we often do. In our friendships, we need to ensure that those we do decide to trust are real friends instead of the camouflaged ones.

Putting your trust in the wrong person often leads to very dire consequences which sometimes may be impossible to recover from.

The only person you can really rely on is God and yourself and those are the only two people you need. And no matter what, always remember to be yourself because everyone else is taken.

Much Love,

Peace Hyde.