LOYALTY IN A FRIENDSHIP
Well first of all, friendship is a “two way” relationship between people.
A friend is not someone that is always there for you when you need help, but someone that you are always there for when they need help. If someone you call a friend is always on your doorstep when they need your help but are nowhere to be found when you need their help, that’s not a friend.
Friendship carries with it the responsibility to always treat the relationship with consideration and it is never to be abused.
I think this means a friend would never ask something of you that goes against your code of beliefs, or sense of judgment. In the same way neither would you make such a request of your friend.
This demonstration of friendship is shown in the movie “The Sandlot,” when Benjamin prepares to jump the fence to get Smalls baseball and Smalls tells Benjamin he does not have to do it.
Trust comes into a friendship when your experience has shown that the other person acts with consistency and never seeks to harm you and you have come to know that, within the structure of your friendship, they will always be up front and honest with you.
Respect comes because of what a friendship is. It is acknowledgment to the value of the friendship.
So, where does the concept of loyalty come in? I think it is based on your knowledge of the person to whom you are loyal. That person has always been honest with you, at least in the areas of your loyalty. Your loyalty is thereby earned.
Loyalty presumes good intensions instead of fearing bad ones and never will accept the worst grounds without first asking and giving a chance for an explanation.
Every person has habits that others may find disagreeable, but that’s just the nature of humanity. Loyalty allows us to see past the habits, to the person, and to value that person for what he/she truly is.
I think loyalty is what creates friendship, and without loyalty friendship would not exist.
An excellent example from the movie “The Sandlot” of loyalty in friendship began near the end of the movie when Benjamin and Smalls promised to Mr. Mertle, who’s yard Smalls baseball landed in, that in exchange for a team signed baseball, which had the signature of Babe Ruth, they would visit him once a week to talk baseball.
Through the loyalty in the promise they made to Mr. Mertle they also began a friendship.
So, HOW IMPORTANT IS LOYALTY IN A FRIENDSHIP?
Without loyalty in a friendship you would not fully value your friend. You would question their character; you might even restrain yourself from being a true friend.
Loyalty is an essential in friendship. Acquaintances become friends through mutual loyalty. And without the loyalty the worst of enemies could be friends.
As a conclusion, loyalty is very important in a friendship. To have one is nothing without the other.
