One of the questions our readers asked was: What does the Bible say about dating? Believe it or not, the Bible says nothing about dating. Back when the Bible was written there was no such thing as dating. What we would consider "dating" is actually a modern concept and a product of our culture, which Joshua Harris covers well in his book "I Kissed Dating Goodbye". In chapter three he discusses seven problems with dating. Some of the main points he makes is that dating steals time, energy, and thoughts away from our relationship with God and doing what we believe God wants us to do with our teen years. Rather than spending our high school years worrying about a relationship we're in, or hoping that a certain guy will ask us out, it would be way more fulfilling to spend our years as a single teenager with the goal of serving and glorifying God. Joshua Harris says: "I believe that dating has tendencies to swerve that don't go away just because Christians do the steering. And even those Christians who can avoid the major pitfalls of premarital sex and traumatic breakups often spend much of their energy wrestling with temptation." It seems that dating isn't worth the time and energy which too often steals from our focus on God.
What if you want to be more than friends with a guy? I believe the most important thing in this case is to develop patience. As a freshman in high school I developed a huge crush on a senior guy from my youth group. Over the course of a year I became more and more infatuated with him. I thought God had destined me to marry him. By mid-sophomore year he was all I thought about. He had become my idol. But rather than sit back, pray, and trust God to work out what I thought was His plan, I forced conversations with him and tried to make a relationship happen between us. Eventually he told me he didn't share my feelings. I was crushed. I had wasted a year of my life thinking, talking, and journaling about him. So my advice is that if you want to be more than friends with a guy, you should pray, spend lots of time in God's Word, and realize that the guy you like in high school may not be the one God has for you to marry.
I feel like my 6th & 7th grade years were just a waste of time! Not so much the life lessons or the education enlightenment, but the sillyness. The gossip, The boys, the drama....the boys. All these Things stud in the way of me growing in Christ. All that energy I put in to going on, and on, and on about the boy I liked or some stupid problem about something stupid I could have been/ should have been focusing on God. I am determined not to waste any more time on this earth because our days are numbered here. And when I do die, I want to be able to know that my life wasn't wasted on random crud that doesn't matter.
ReplyDeleteThat is so wonderful to hear that you are determined to live out the rest of your days for the glory of God! And remember that God doesn't want us to focus on our past mistakes, but instead to live in the light of His forgiveness - He wants to use our weaknesses for His glory. If you would like us to pray for you, please don't hesitate to email us at sistersinchrist.girlz@gmail.com - we would be more than happy to encourage you as you continue to seek out and follow God's will for your life.
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