You’re quite right about men being scared to be vulnerable with other men, and there are good reasons sometimes – being too vulnerable leaves yourself open to attack from satan and I think you can become too reliant on other people’s affirmation instead of God’s. However, having someone or a couple of people who know you nearly as well as your wife does is brilliant and helpful – men understand other men better than women do! We connect with men in a different capacity than our wives and we need good male companions to do life with – to encourage, constructively criticise, laugh and cry with. I used to make the mistake of spreading myself too thin, trying to have 15 friends who were my ‘best friends’ and who knew loads about me. But I was seeking affirmation and trying to gain confidence from them and not from God. Consequently, I’ve cut down on unhelpful male friendships which I had just for the sake of being popular.

The other thing that I hope you mention in your book is how we as men should have relationships with each other where we are able to speak sometimes harshly into each other’s lifes as a matter of course. We are so often scared to be the one who questions why, for example, they were out until 2am drinking one night, because we don’t want to ‘rock the boat’. But a true friend should pull you up on all the crap in your life, not just congratulate you for the successes.