World vs. Bible - Dating

Does our view on dating impact our relationship with Christ?

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 
– Genesis 2:24

The Bible expresses the importance of dating as a way to become one with another. As quoted above in Genesis 2:24. Much like Christ is one with the Church and the Church is one with Him, those who marry will become one. This is not to say that you will feel as one but through the mystery which Marriage is, believers hold fast to the Word and the bond in which they have developed (Mark 10:9). My goal is to encourage believers to stop comparing their relationships to the world's standards and begin to find truth by reading the greatest love story, the Bible.

Commitment

One big thing that Christians who date struggle with is commitment. We as humans see from the media that it is good to keep our options open, "the grass is always greener." If we go back to Genesis 2:24 we see that we must commit. Society is making it OK to jump from one relationship to another or, if you are married, to divorce. Let us remember if we are dating we date to marry and if we are married we are of one flesh. This reveals the importance of building a strong foundation on friendship and developing it into a dating relationship. If our goal is marriage then we need to take the preceding steps of dating serious, and begin to build genuine friendships that are built on loving a sister or brother. Once we commit we need to roll through some hard times while dating, where the world wants you to give up and move on. The World's view wants to confuse commitment in relationships because it poisons what Godly/Christ like commitment should be, and so in convolutes our thoughts of what our relationship with Christ looks like.

Dad or dad

Another issue that many men face while dating Christian women is that when they date they feel as though they need to be a father figure. If guys are honest, this is something they look forward to, it shows their strength and makes them feel that they are wanted/loved, but this should be saved for actual children not for the girl that guys dates or marries. Women should not be looking for a guy to fill the dad hole in their heart. As Genesis 2:24 says, man and woman will become one. This means that before dating the man and women should be in a healthy pursuit of their Dad aka Heavenly Father. If the guy is doing this he will quickly be humbled in how powerful his Dad is and lives by His example, and if the woman is doing this then she will not be in a pursuit for someone to fill a hole that is unfillable by any man, but have comfort in who she is. The World wants you to find the man to be the ultimate father figure, and the woman to be searching for it, but the Bible is clear and shares that God is the only one that can fill that position, and gives urgency to men and women pursuing Him before anything else.

Final Thoughts

As believers in Christ there is an act of sacrifice in how we live our life. The way that we as Christians date should be different than the rest of the world, if others see Christians date and see no difference, how does that create change? When we choose to watch films and movies that condone sex before marriage, multiple sex partners and promiscuity all because it is funny, we are supporting it. I mention these things, commitment and Dad, because these are things that I noticed in my life and have allowed the Lord to change. We need to flee from temptation and if this means we stop watching television shows that supports impure thoughts of how the Lord designed relationships, then do it! The greatest story we can read to help us with dating is the Bible. There is no greater love story and no other book that can express what a pure relationship looks like. Jesus tells us, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." we cannot put the extra stress on our relationships by using our relationships as idols, like the world wants us to. So stand firm on the Rock and don't allow the world to tell you what relationships look like.