[editor’s note: This is a guest post by Ayodele Oluwafunsho. I love her post today on friendship and how we relate to one another! This weekend, I’m reading Bible verses in one of my best friend from childhood’s wedding (remember the one from last year that got married? that’s the third pea in our pod!). Friendship is such a blessing!]

Friendship is one of the greatest assets you can possess in life. It’s so funny we know how to treat lesser assets than the greater ones.

Friendship is one of the most strategic things in life; it’s something you don’t have to take for granted. If the Bible said “Two are better than one” (Eccl 4:9-10) then don’t joke with it, two are actually better than one. It is not only in marriage that this is applicable. But in all areas.

One of the poisons of motivational speaking is that it has turned us into lone rangers, they tell us ‘you can make it alone’ It’s a lie, you can’t survive alone.

The days are coming when you will need friends. In this journey of life, you need someone, because it’s getting cold out there. You had always needed someone and you will continue to need someone.

Now, how do you locate the person you need at a particular point of your life should be your main focus. Because I tell you, once there’s problem with relationship, there’s problem everywhere, this is because it is the key to leadership and there’s nowhere you can’t access with relationship. Everything thrives when relationship thrives; let me tell you, you are just a relationship away from that money you are looking for, from that job, from that husband/wife. Get diligent about how you treat people and you will soon connect to the power house.

Many people tell me they don’t have friends or they don’t need friends, I tell you, you are doing yourself a harm because where you are took someone to get you there, where you are going will take someone to get you there as well.

You are where you are because your primary school teacher taught you and you got to the high school, your high school teacher also taught you before you got to the college, you needed them.

Even when Jesus came to the earth, he chooses 12 friends. You see one of the gifts that God has given us is the ability to choose our friends. I use the CHOOSE because we choose our friends, friends are not forced or transferred; you choose who you want your friends to be. God has never given anyone a friend and he won’t give you one. The only thing he will give you is TIME.

He expects you to convert that your time to money, to invest your time into people to turn them into your friends.

“Mike Murdock” said something; he said “Time is the only currency of the earth, with which we buy everything we need” The Lord Jesus Christ called us friends because he knows how important friendship is. Even in science, the molecules of a compound had to come together to keep each of the compounds like that.

Friendship helps you run with several legs, hear with several ears and see with several eyes, because if you have a friend in New york and you are in Texas, he/she may hear of a job or a business in new york that you are very good at, he can link you up straight.

Let’s stop this entire ‘Pastor pray for me of a thing’

Learn to build more on your relational ability; God has placed everyone around you for a reason

Now, let me say this “YOU DON’T NEED TOO MANY FRIENDS” the Bible says in Proverbs 14:29 “A man of many companions will soon come to ruin” But there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 19:8.

You just need few loyal friends, this doesn’t mean you don’t get along with people but we all have tastes, what we like and what we dislike.

So, if everyone is your friend, it’s a sign you have no shame because the truth is, not everyone is travelling in the same direction with, so everyone cannot be your friend.

NOTE THIS: God is a relational being and this is why we have the Bible, so in order to be effective in life, you need to learn how to deal with people effectively.

Oluwafunsho is a certified Relationship therapist. An author and a Christian writer. Married with kids.