FRIENDSHIPS

*Coughs*

*Cleans cobwebs*

*Tests mic*

Whoooooosh I know it's been a while I showed up here and I'm apologizing for my inconsistency, that's why I needed to clean the cobwebs here.

Straight to what we'll be having today.

This has been on my mind for a while, and I thought to share, so sit back, relax, grab a glass of milk and biscuit too, read, learn, comment and share. Thank you.

Friendships is a core aspect of our lives. While God is intentional and wants to be involved in our friendships, the devil too works actively against our God-given friendships.

Having different experiences in friendships has made me understand different levels and types of friendship.

Before I talk about the levels of friendship, I'll talk about a type of friendship I got to learn about.

There is this experience of friendship I had, and I'll call it a 'seasonal' friendship. This type of friendship I feel it's meant for a season, maybe something brought you together, maybe a course, a task etc. In this type of friendship, I didn't know I had to move on too, I'll share an experience. I was friends with this person and when what brought us together was no longer there, I noticed that the friendship wasn't the way it used to be, and I was already emotionally attached to that friendship; mind you, it was a friendship of the same sex.

I realized I was hurting from the friendship not knowing that the person had moved back to the level of a 'casual' friend. The person was just a friend for that season, and when what brought us together was no longer there, change began in the friendship. Not that there wasn't any friendship, but it was more like a 'good morning, how are you?' kind of friendship.

There are levels of friendship, and you've to understand people and their levels of friendship with you. You've to be conscious of each person and the different levels.

There is this level of friendship which I call the 'Hi' friendship. According to Myles Munroe this level of friendship is called casual friendship and this is one in which the people involved discover they have some things in common that draw them closer, this level can be that of a course mate or so, it's this level that something brings you together.

Then there's this level of friendship I'll would call a 'Close' friendship. In this level, you're familiar with this person. According to Myles Munroe, close friends pursue mutual goals and most often shared similar values, ideas, and worldviews. In this level, you share deeper things and it has to be with people who are seeking God's kingdom, you trust each other, help each other grow, be there in times of challenges, hold each other's hand to walk through the journey of life, understand each other's goals and dreams and help with it, help build each other's character. There's commitment and you've to be honest.

Then there is this level of friendship I would call the 'Holy of the Holies' friendship. This level of friendship, personally for me is my highest level of friendship and it's an advanced level of close friendship. This is my inner circle or inner caucus as some would call. Before I started learning about friendships I was open and I let anybody in, but having different experiences and lessons learnt has made me realize how these set of people would influence me and enhance my growth. In this level of friendship, you're interested in each other's growth, and yes you share value with each other; sharing value is important in other levels of friendship too. 

The best place to meet and make an intimate friend is on the road to the Kingdom of God.

~~~ Myles Munroe

People in our inner caucus friendship has to be believers, people that you share the same belief, people that are open to correction. In friendships, there's a place of love and in love there's sacrifice.

An example of someone that showed the different level of friendship is Jesus, yes he knew a lot of people, but He had the twelve disciples and even among those disciples He had a circle who were James, Peter and John.

The enemy(devil) creates disruption and disunity within your circle of friends and within the shared community of  body of Christ.

~~~Priscilla Shirer

One important thing I've learnt about friendships is that the enemy has interest in God-given friendships, relationships and communities, because he knows that when you're together in twos or as a community, you're stronger. I've learnt that praying for my friends is as important as praying for my friendships. In this case, I do not just pray only for the needs, dreams etc of my friends, but I pray about their growth, I pray that we both understand the strategies of the enemy against our friendship.

In friendship, I think both parties need to understand the level of friendship of each other, for example, a friendship experience I had, on the person's end it was a casual friendship while in my own end it was a close friendship.

Also, I've learnt that God is intentional about me and wants to be involved in every area of my life including my friendships.I pray that God helps us in being intentional about our friendships. Amen

PS: I'll love to know about your friendship experiences and other levels of friendship, as well a type of friendship you just learnt.