I recently read an article by John Ortberg entitled, “Higher Stakes Friendships.” He talked about these so called “five rules of friendship” this group of guys used as guidelines for their conversations. The “five rules” were…

1. We can ask anything, no holds barred.
2. If you answer, you must tell the truth, as much as you know it.
3. If you don’t answer, you must say why you won’t or can’t answer.
4. Everything that is said to each other will be held in absolute confidence.
5. We will make absolutely no judgments of each other.

I like these “five rules.” The only thing I might add is to number 5. While we won’t make any judgments of each other we will speak truth into one another’s lives.

You know, I’m humbled and thankful to be able to say that I actually have a handful of people in my life that I can and do have these kind of conversations with.

Having someone you can call at 3am….matters.

Having someone that can look you in the eye and tell you you’ve absolutely lost your flippin’ mind…matters.

Having someone who’s there on your way up and they’re just as close on the way down…matters.

So my encouragement to you is don’t settle for anything less than deep relationships that…matter.