I was so inspired by DeVon’s and Meagan’s testimony, and how they had both previously had sex, but then had decided to wait until marriage to have sex again. Relationship Goals is my #2 best Christian dating book I highly recommend. When it came to biblical or Christian dating, I had no idea what was off limits and what was okay. God outlined basic principles that we should follow if we want to have a more fulfilling relationship with one another. It is up to us to follow these principles and reap its many benefits.
Don’t date to convert
When faith is an important part of your decision-making criteria, Christian Mingle is one of the best Christian dating sites. Finding a potential partner who shares the same faith and values as you do is not easy. Especially when you consider how many online dating sites there are to choose from. One problem in evaluating missionary dating from a biblical perspective is that dating of any type was not widely practiced in biblical times.
Other messages have stressed that Christians need to be much more counter-cultural. Joshua Harris, for instance, has promoted a model of courtship that harkens back to ukrainacupid com a model used broadly before modern dating evolved. The God who sends these kinds of friends and family into our lives knows what we need far better than we ever will.
Granted, not all of these people are evangelicals, but we’re not doing so well either. That truth has brought immeasurable emotional pain and other consequences to many Christians. Worse, it has brought great dishonor to the name of Christ and to the witness of individuals and the church.
#2 – Relationship Goals: How to Win at Dating, Marriage, and Sex
As people get older and mature, their thinking about relationships shifts as they begin to look for something more meaningful, a bigger commitment, family life, and God’s will for them. If the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture is true, then God’s Word does have authoritative guidance for us about how we might best glorify God in this area of our lives. That means our conversation has to be a biblical conversation. This question can help you understand your potential partner’s views on intimacy and physical affection.
But while these things can help us stay connected on some level, they’re hardly the building blocks of a close relationship. In my dealings with the topic biblical courtship, I have found that, to my disappointment and often discouragement, there seems to be a lot of opinion but regrettably, a real lack of clarity. Also, there’s no harm in asking right away during an interaction with a potential partner what their faith is or if they would be willing to convert.
As Christians, we are part of God’s family, and we allow other believers to speak into our lives. Dating couples are called to let other Christians speak the truth in love to them. This doesn’t mean that they hang out exclusively in groups, or only in the context of their extended families. It simply means that they open their lives up to other believers. There is a difference between dating as a teenager and later when you’re pursuing marriage. When you’re younger, you’re primarily looking for someone to attend things with, and it doesn’t entail assessing whether a person is suitable for marriage.
What Does the Bible Have to Say about Dating?
As opposed to “playing the field,” the goal of biblical dating is marriage. A man and a woman desire a spouse to journey in the faith and go through life. It involves a person surrendering and submitting to the Lord. He should also seek to ensure that a significant amount of time is spent with other couples or friends rather than alone. The topics, manner, and frequency of conversations should be characterized by the desire to become acquainted with each other more deeply, but not in a way that defrauds each other.
You are depriving yourself from what God really has for you. It’s okay to grieve when you long for a relationship, because God made you with the desire to be in a relationship. But we shouldn’t settle for less than what God has for us. There are a lot of things that we need to prepare and accomplish first before getting into a serious relationship or exclusive dating. We need to be physically, emotionally, financially, and most importantly, spiritually prepared.
Dating to convert someone is built on false intentions, which is extremely harmful to your relationship. Trying to change someone to believe what you believe never works because you simply can’t change a person’s heart. A person’s heart will only change when the work of the Holy Spirit reveals that they need Jesus. Dating a non-believer restricts you in your personal relationship with God and could inhibit your faith from growing further. Getting to encourage someone in their walk with God is a blessing, but that should be done in an equally yoked relationship–where both of you are pursuing God actively and building each other up in Christ.
This critical step helps tremendously during the decision-making process. However, may people may ask what to do if you have already engaged in sexual activity. I say to you, talk to God and confide your situation, and hear the Holy Spirit for further guidance. It is never too late to ask for forgiveness and redeem your dating life. Many people are drawn into relationships primarily by physical attractiveness and sexual chemistry – however, these denominators will change with time. For other people, compatibility is what they consider important in selecting an intimate partner.