What would that say — to them, to our significant other, to the rest of our friends and family — about our faith in Jesus? Maybe we don’t see eye to eye with our parents. Maybe our parents are divorced and disagree with each other about what we should do.
In simple terms, the two biggest distinctions between Godly dating and worldly dating are motivation and action. As mentioned earlier, it is very important to know your motivation for dating. Is it to keep up with others who seem happy together? Your answer to these questions will paint a clear picture latinomeetup com of your motivation. It’s clear to see that these questions are based on emotion and fleshly desires. Not, “May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may we rejoice in his works.” No, “May he rejoice in his works.” He’s not just putting on a show that a few nature-loving people might enjoy.
Solid Joys
Asking these questions isn’t about ensuring marital bliss, nor is it about acquiring a perfection that can only be found in Jesus. It’s about honoring God and walking in wisdom. Ignoring problems doesn’t make them disappear, and denying them won’t strengthen your relationship. Talking through your concerns can be hard and uncomfortable—it might even result in a break-up—but if you love and trust God, you don’t have to fear facing these questions head-on. They want a way to ensure the person they marry won’t disappoint them. But when you get married, as Elisabeth Elliot points out, “you marry a sinner.” You commit yourself to a fallible person and an unknown future.
Does Technology Help or Hurt Dating?
Instead of making it your mission to get married, make your mission God’s global cause and the advance of the gospel where you are, and look for someone pursuing the same. If you’re hoping to marry someone who passionately loves Jesus and makes him known, it’s probably best to put yourself in a community of people committed to that. If Christian dating — the intentional, selfless, and prayerful process of pursuing marriage — sounds like slavery, we don’t get it. If low-commitment sexual promiscuity sounds like freedom, we don’t get it. Jesus may ask more of us, but he does so to secure and increase our greatest and longest-lasting happiness. I give you praise for all that you do and all that you protect me from.
If you’re a Christian, that’s the biblical life you’re called to. If you are like me, you may have blown it on multiple fronts already. Maybe you’re blowing it right now in a relationship.
Biblical dating tends to be complementarian . If you were to Google the word “matchmaker,” you would receive something in the neighborhood of 21,200,000 responses — with a few of these outfits claiming to be Christian, but most making no such claim. Don’t let your mind marry him before the rest of you can.
Our community group right now (which is our church’s small group) is just my wife and I and all single folks, who we love. But we’re wrestling through these kinds of questions still, five years later, when discipling young men and women through these kinds of questions, which are massive. He wants us to depend on him and to pray and to not expect that this is going to be easy or perfectly clear. He wants us to lean into him through the whole process. If you have friends that have dated long distance, you have friends who have complained about dating long distance.
Christians should date as they live—and Christians should live by following the example of Christ. This book will help single people make the most of their not-yet-married life, seeing it as a unique period of unmatched devotion to Christ and ministry to others, even while waiting for a spouse. In this episode, Marshall Segal discusses singleness and dating as a Christian. Boundaries, though, are not just for guarding against sexual immorality.
He delights in what he’s made because it’s charged with his energy and alive with his presence. And remember, the psalmist didn’t have Netflix or National Geographic. He couldn’t plan a trip to the Pacific Ocean or the Rocky Mountains or even the local zoo.
“He told me he loved me.” “She said she would never leave.” They’re the seemingly priceless sentences that don’t always cash. They’re often said with good intentions, but without the ring — and without a ring, the results can be devastating. Guard your heart and imagination from running out ahead of your current commitment. Happily Ever After 30 devotional reading from 13 staff and contributors to Desiring God.Harder than you expected. Better than a fairy tale.Marriage between sinners has its inevitable messes.
If fullness of life could be found in sexual stimulation, or if it was just a matter of making babies, the “forget formality and just have sex” approach might temporarily satisfy cravings and cause enough conception. But God had much more in mind with romance than orgasms or even procreation, and so should we. As you are contemplating how to date God’s way, remember timing is everything. It can be easy to rush into relationships to fill the void for companionship and intimacy. Today, I encourage you to seek God for any area of need. He is the only one who can truly bring healing, deliverance, and the completeness we need.
The greatest danger of dating is giving parts of our hearts and lives to someone to whom we’re not married. It is a significant risk, and many, many men and women have deep and lasting wounds from relationships because a couple enjoyed emotional or physical closeness without a lasting, durable commitment. Cheap intimacy feels real for the moment, but you get what you pay for. Godly dating consists of individuals who’ve made a choice to honor God in their actions. Their motivation is not to find someone to complete them or fulfill their intimate needs.
Lauren entered into covenant with me, loved the character that God had formed in my heart, and now it was my character and godliness that fueled her attraction to me physically. So, in that way, I’m encouraged by what technology has to offer. What follows is an edited transcript of the full conversation with Chandler. Feel free to browse for the relevant questions to your life.