Friendship

Keri and i have been thinking a lot about friendship this last year. From young to old, the presence of friendships makes such a difference in living a healthy life and even in devotion to God. 

Have you every thought a friendship is a way of caring for your soul? What can you learn about the state of your soul from your current friendships?

Friendship is necessary, but it arrives in many ways. Some types of friends are:


1. Everyday Friends: easy access, easy venting, easy enjoyment

2. Far-away Friends: less contact, more catch-up, better insight

3. Similar-Interest Friends: always fun to talk about things you love with someone who loves talking about the same things

4. Work Friends: somehow a forced friendship moves beyond the office to the daily life

5. Ministry Friends: serving alongside and suffering alongside; bonding in the trenches.

6. Heart/Honest Friends: honest venting leads to honest feedback leads to deep appreciation leads to heart connection

7. Stop-Start Friends: rarely see them, rarely plan them, but always seem to see them and start just where you left off

8. Spontaneous Friends: met them once, but love them forever.

9. Crazy Friends: call them only when attempting something crazy; they are always up for crazy!

10. Old/Young Friends: more then 5 years older or younger, but enjoy them as if they were your age and stage.

11. Family Friends: known them from birth, in home videos, they don't share blood, but they've shared most of your childhood.

12. Family to Friends: forced to spend time with them, but surprisingly you enjoy them!

13. Friends of Friends: friends invited them, you're still getting to know them...but you've got a good feeling about them.

14. Long-Forgotten Friends: yearbook friends, you haven't seen them, but still love and think them friends.


Usually these types of friends blend into more than one category. And certainly friendships move in stages over time, transition, need and growth. A friend cannot satisfy every area of life, so it is a gift that friends come in all sorts of ways.

What friends come to mind for you when you read these? Do you have other categories?

What needs do you have in friendship right now? What friends can you get to know deeper?

Who among these friends needs to be supported or prayed for? What would it look like to do that right now?