Friendship; Gold, Silver or None

Written by: Olawoye Sunday Mayowa

In a recent interview with Pastor Poju Oyemade of the Covenant Christian center, Pastor E. A. Adeboye, of the Redeemed Christian Church of God said "make new friends, and keep the old,  one is silver while the other is gold". This statement has further awaken thoughts about friendship and relationship in our age. Our generation is littered with people with little or no friends, some keep a limited friend cycle while others have situational friends. The raging questions in people's hearts are:

• Why should I have friends at all?
•  Why should I keep an old friend? 

If you ask the question "why should I have friends at all?" This is your answer;
 It's a common saying that "if you want to achieve faster, go alone, if you want to achieve faster and go farther, go with a friend."
 Friendship is synonymous to having company, while Companionship means having people around to do things in common, think, help and assist each other to achieve a common goal. Of course, friendship has been bastardised in my climes so much that people no longer value keeping friends. But to really enjoy life, "man cannot live in isolation", we will always need to surround ourselves with like minds in the journey of life.

 Why keep old friends?  

As we walk the earth, old friends will always guide our choice of new friends. For instance, if you have friends from primary school, who were always challenging you to aim higher and it's indeed helped you, your taste of friendship will always be to get people who can pelt you with encouragement and the 'can do' mentality. On the contrary, a sour experience with friends in one's early life can undoubtedly create a sense of bitterness that will always hinder a person to associate himself with people deeply or make friends.


As we move on, we must consciously choose our friends according to our personal beliefs, and  our vision bearing in mind the general saying "Show me your friends and I will tell who you are".