What is true friendship?

I read an interesting post of a Facebook friend from Bosnia. She posted the following joke:

Best Friends

A woman stays out all night. In the morning when she shows up at the front door she tells her husband that she spent the night at a her best friend’s.

The man picks up the phone and calls ten of her friends–not one confirms that she spent the night.

Another evening the man doesn’t come home, and in the morning says that he spent the night at his best friend’s.

The woman takes the phone and calls his friends. After she talks to ten men, five say he did indeed spend the night at his house and the other five say that he is still there!

She added the comment that men are better friends than women. I responded by saying, “Or better liars.” [Another friend, commenting on my post asked “better” liars?] 

This got me thinking. Is it a better friend who tells the truth or who covers for a friend?

In the New Testament is says that love covers over a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4.8). It also says that love “rejoices in the truth” ( 1 Cor 13.6).

What are your thoughts on this? What would you do if you received a call like that?

Before I close let me include the Bosnian proverb, “A lie has short legs.” Which means that you can’t go far in a lie.