4 Stages of Friendship

Making friends is easy, you just have to know the trick..

Love comes and goes, but true friendship stays. Sadly we don’t learn friendship-building skill formally, we have to experience it with trials and errors during our life.

Ultimately, our purpose in being a friend should be to encourage, lift up, and help build the character of those with whom we are friends, and to do all we can to assist them in achieving their dreams.

Naturally we cannot do this with everyone we meet, or with anyone right off the bat. Friendship develops in stages. Basically there are 4 levels of frienship, and at any given time most of us will have at least one person we know at each level.

Level 1: Acquaintance

They say that the sweetest sound in a person’s ear is the sound of his or her own name. People appreciate being remembered as an individual rather than being marked off as a number or just another faceless member of crowd. This is the lowest level of friendship, this is the level where you first have to have the skills to make small conversation and first impression to advance to the next level. You can do this by asking questions about other’s personal interests. This is an axcellent way to discover what you may have in common.

Level 2: Casual Friendship

One characteristic of casual friendship is the freedom to ask specific questions concerning personal opinions, wishes, dreams, and goals. Casual friends enjoy getting together occasionally to talk about or share their common interests. They begin to praise and encourage each other in their achievements and accomplishments. Casual friends are not ‘serious’ about each other emotionally. Their friendship is nourished by the pleasure they derive from shared interests.

Level 3: Close Friendship

Close friendship is based on mutual life goals and friends at this level at this level enjoy the freedom to suggest mutual projects toward reaching those goals. Another characteristic of close friendship is that it is the first relationship that involves genuine common fellowship. Close friends pursue mutual goals and most often share similar values, ideals, and worldviews. This means that each friend becomes directly involved in helping the other succeed.

Level 4: Intimate Friendship

True and intimate friends are commited to the development of each other’s character and welfare. They are not afraid to say anything but at the same time they will not say or do anything or put pressure on each other that could lead to damaged or compramised character. Save your time and intimate friendship for someone who will be committed to your character. Finally, no matter what, we should always be committed to faithfulness, loyalty, and availability.