False friends. That was the topic of two of my recent columns. Those columns—”5 Ways to Recognize False Friends” and “5 More Ways to Recognize False Friends”—struck a nerve with our readers. It seems many Christians have friends who stab them in the back, climb over them for opportunity, and run the other direction when trouble comes.

A friend of mine, Jennifer Eivaz, suggested I look at the other side of the coin: What are the characteristics of a true covenant friend? What does it take to be a good pal? What does the Bible say about real friendships? I thought her suggestion was brilliant.

Although I don't expect this article to get the tens of thousands of shares the last two did, I feel it's important to dive deeper into the issue because we can probably all be better friends. With that in mind:

Over the weekend, I posted a Facebook graphic titled “9 Sure Signs You're Being Emotionally Manipulated.” Within minutes, it was liked and shared over 1,000 times and has reached well over 1 million people in less than a week.

Gee, I guess manipulation is a big issue in the body of Christ. Of course, that's not all that surprising. I imagine we have all run into emotional manipulators in our Christian walks and have been tempted to manipulate situations in our own right. You can find manipulation in homes, in schools, in workplaces—and in churches. Before we move on to the six ways to deal with emotional manipulators, let's look at the sure signs in the original post:

(1) People give you ultimatums; (2) People use tears against you; (3) People give you the silent treatment; (4) People play the victim; (5) People make you walk on eggshells; (6) People guilt you; (7) People skew the facts; (8) People twist your words; and (9) People suck the life out of you. If you want more explanation on each of these points, watch the video at the bottom of this article.