Pastor David Leininger wrote a little aricle called, "I have Called You Friends." In it he quoted  The Clergy Journal which shared disturbing information about making friends:

60% of men over 30 cannot identify a single person they would call a close friend. Of the 40% who list friends, most were made during childhood or school years. Most women can identify 5 or 6 women whom they call close friends. A closer look shows that a lot of these were functional relationships. Friendship is not easy to develop.

Our lesson is about friends and friendship. If it has never occurred to you before, note that Christians were called "friends" before they were called Christians. That's right. The New Testament says, "it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called 'Christians'" -- long after the death of Jesus and the dispersion of his disciples in the early days of the church.

But Jesus himself said to the disciples, "I have called you friends." Think about that. Let it sink in. "I have called you friends." Before anything else. "I have called you friends."

One of the core values of The Sycamore Network is healthy relationships. We believe God when He said, “It is not good for man to be alone”. That’s why we work so hard to encourage you to be an active participant in one of our LifeGroups. Christ-followers must live out their lives in community with other believers to experience all of life that God desires for them.

Do you have a group of people in your life you can truly call “friends”? If not, isn’t it time?