PART V - THE MAJOR ISSUES

Friends

We all need friends and good friendships can bring much fun, satisfaction and support into our lives.  However, we need to choose our friends carefully and manage those relationships well. 

Like family, friends can be a great asset, but also can cause problems.  Typically, there are your friends, your spouse’s friends, and people who are friends of both of you. All three types of friends are fine. Friends who could cause problems are the ones who:

1. Meddle in your relationship or family,
    
2. Have values that are seriously out of sync with yours,
    
3. Have an attraction to the spouse of the opposite sex,
    
4. Demand an inappropriate amount of time or resources,
    
5. Engage in risky, immoral, or addictive behavior, or
    
6. Gossip.

Friendships vary from mild acquaintances to relationships that are lifelong and are stronger than many marriages.  In any case, if you value your marriage, friendships must take a back seat to your marriage.  If you or your spouse has a friend or friends that fit in 1. through 6. above, those friendships must be managed properly or, in severe cases, ended.