When Tim and I start a new dating series, one of our first weeks is always devoted to one simple question.
What do you believe about God?
And why does this matter you ask?
Because what you believe about God affects the way you date.
What you believe about God determines your behavior in the dating realm. It is the core basis of how you treat people.
Don’t believe me?
“A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.”—Matthew 12:35
What is stored up inside of you?
What are you putting into you?
God’s word? Healthy relationships? Love and Christian service? Christian community?
Or perhaps it’s something else?
When no one at church is looking what are putting in your heart?
It would seem we have a choice to make.
Do we choose to treat people well based on the goodness of God living within us or do we choose to take our dating relationships out of God’s realm based on our own desires and selfishness?
Do we take dating out of the context of our spirituality?
Do we rely on ourselves and tell God, ‘I’ve got it handled.”
“God, how about you cover Sunday and I’ll take care of the Friday night hook-up?”
“God, you handle the big things—like health and welfare and I got the women covered.”
Or maybe we let our loneliness supplant God when it comes to meeting people. “It’s been so long God…I couldn’t help myself.”
Do we settle for sex instead of a real relationship or being dangled along as “just a friend” while someone uses us to get their needs met while our legitimate needs–like security and a future get trampled on?
If it seems like I’m a little too familiar with this conversation, I am. Been there and done that. And I’ll tell you a secret…
It didn’t work.
Putting God in a box and leaving him out of my dating relationships did not go well for me.
In fact, it was a recipe for disaster!
Only when I surrendered DATING to God did he do the work within me to transform my heart. And only then did I RECOGNIZE a good guy when he came along.
So, let’s take a moment and ask the big question, “What do you believe about God?”
Do you believe that he has your best in mind?
That he loves you?
That he wants the best for you?
Do you believe that his commandments aren’t meant to take away our fun but to truly give you the best life possible?
Do you trust God’s timing because he knows you better than you know yourself?
If the answer is yes, then what does that mean about some of the things in your life distracting you from God’s best.
Things like:
Pornography
Sex outside of marriage
Dating unbelievers
Playing games in dating
Treating dating like a consumer marketplace
Dishonesty in your intentions—leading people on
Picking and choosing the parts of the Bible you agree with to justify deviant behaviors
Are you all in? Or just lukewarm?
The question is “Do you believe God or not?”
–Samantha and Tim
