Friendships are a necessary luxury to live life to the fullest. It’s true we can live without them. But our lives are enriched in many ways when we invest in friendship.
While we’re rightly encouraged to give the needed attention to our marriage and family, our friendships are often neglected and taken for granted.
But whether we have lifelong friends from childhood or we’re forging new relationships in adulthood, friendships take work and need our intentional investment in order to grow.
This might start with simply spending time together despite the many inconveniences along the way. And more than merely hanging out we dive into the deep waters of each other’s souls.
We then seek to build each other up with no strings attached – giving not to get anything back, but to simply bless and encourage the other.
Our investment is not a tit for tat transaction, but rather acts of goodness from our deep heart. We’re there for the other time and again without keeping score – trusting they would do the same for us.
In time, we serve each other as iron sharpens iron – enjoying each other’s company but also challenging each other to grow into the best version of ourselves.
To be sure, this comes at a cost for our marriage and family. It requires time away and emotional energy invested elsewhere.
But our friendships also bring a blessing back into our homes.
Not only are we becoming better men, husbands, and fathers, we’re also building a community to support our loved ones. True friends stand in the gap when we come up short or need help in a particular area.
In the end, life becomes desperate and lonely without deep friendships to fill our souls.
Invest in friendships and discover the many joys and blessings along the way.
Photo by Clayton Cardinalli on Unsplash
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