Known

Friendship isn't an add-on to life. It is life.

This should probably bother you more than it does. The research is now overwhelmingly clear: If you want to live longer, handle stress better, recover from illness faster, stay sharp as you age, and actually be happy, the single strongest predictor isn't your diet, your income, your workout routine, or even your church attendance.

It's the quality of your close friendships. Not how many people you know. Not your followers. Not how often you’re around people. It’s being known. Genuinely. Authentically.

Most of us treat friendship like an accessory—something we add on when everything else is in place. But it doesn’t work like that. Friendship isn't the reward for a flourishing life. It's the foundation of one. And the Bible, it turns out, has been saying this for a long, long time.

Known is a series on the one thing we keep underestimating—and what it's costing us.