I’m sorry to break the news to you, but friends come and go. I wish it wasn’t the case. I know it can be painful, but it is the nature of life. Siblings last for a lifetime. Spouses come with vows expecting long relationships. And a few friends endure from first grade to the nursing home.

But most friendships are not long-lasting. They come and they go and there is little we can, or should, do about it.

It’s often said half of all your friendships will be different in seven years. This isn’t a statistic like childhood obesity rates where the stat should scare us into action. This is a statistic of reality which should cause us to give grace to ourselves and to others as some friendships slowly drift apart.

Friendship is founded on shared experience. (See: Drama Addicts–why your best friend is always stressed)

Chances are, most people can remember their friend from first grade. Within a day or two of enduring the new experience of school desks, lunchroom policies, and recess, we naturally gravitate toward people who are like us and experiencing the same things as us. Through the shared experience, friendships are formed.

Yet as those experiences change, so do our relationships. The other day I saw where one of my earliest friends became a father. As I looked at the pictures on social media, I felt a warm sense of gratitude for him and his family. Yet I didn’t write a note. I didn’t make a phone call. I watched online, felt good for him, and did nothing. I don’t remember the last time we spoke. I doubt it has been since high school and may not have been since elementary school. We were close friends for a few years, but as we grew and were in different classes and then different schools, the friendship began to fade. It’s neither his fault nor mine. It’s life.

While some friendships endure the changes and become life-long relationships, most do not. And that is more than acceptable. There is no moral obligation to stay in close contact with every person we become friends with. It would be impossible to do so. While we should always love one another and do the best for and towards others, we should not feel guilt because a best friend becomes just another friend or just another friend becomes someone we used to know. It’s simply the way things happen. (See: You Don’t Know Me)

However, some people who do not understand the ebb and flow of relationships, wrongly conclude that when friendships fade, someone has done wrong. They believe a fading friendship is the sign of selfishness, or a lack of caring, or a rejection of thoughtfulness. While it could be any of those things, far more often it is simply a change in life setting.

An inseparable group of friends are separable when one person in the group gets a boyfriend.

Couples who vacation together every summer probably stop when one of them has a child.

Friendships born in the stands tend to last for as long as the kids keep playing the sport.

No one consciously chooses to end the friendship. And the friendship doesn’t actually end, but it does change. Circumstances which brought us close together then separate us and most of the time the separation changes the closeness of the friendship. (See: Discernment–A Forgotten Sign of Adulthood)

We must embrace this reality. It’s difficult. Especially whenever we feel very close to another person, it is painful to watch a friendship drift away. Yet there is no need to guilt another person or question our own loyalty when life causes us to drift way.

Some relationships must be maintained. We promise to keep our spouses close throughout the changes of life. We hope to keep a healthy relationship with parents, children, and siblings as life changes. With all of these demands, we must give ourselves and others permission to allow some friendships to come and go.

Recognizing this will cause us to have a deeper gratitude for lifelong friendships. It will allow us to look back on past friendships with a sincere fondness. And it will give us a greater appreciation for those who are in our lives today, realizing that they may not be there tomorrow. (See: Love Your Friends, Don’t Listen to Them)

Most friendships are temporary. Enjoy the time, but accept that the relationship will likely change.