The church and dating- By Awonke Mose
The first rule in dating is the first rule in all of life: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). You will not truly love anyone else if you do not love God first and most. And no one will truly love you if they do not love God more than they love you.
The first step in dating should always be the step of faith we take toward our Lord, Savior, and greatest Treasure, King Jesus. He captures our heart; we find our deepest joy in him. When we find our deepest joy in him bazalwane, then we can be involved in relationships. Dating is not necessarily sinful as some grew up knowing- those that grew up in church. It is premartial sex and lust that are sinful, it is unfortunately that many of US got involved sex activities before wedlock ngoba lithule ibandla, and we are not taught about godly dating. The only time the issue of dating is raised in church it is to condemn and rebuke those that were caught sleeping with each other. I have been a youth leader at church, and many precious sisters and brothers in the Lord are sleeping around behind closed doors- that is what the world has taught us, when you are dating you should have sex, because the church is silent.
What is godly dating? It is a God centered relationship- love is of God, we should never exclude God when we fall in love. If we exclude Him, we are setting ourselves for impurity. In order to be pure Bazet, be accountable. My golden rule in dating is a warm, but unpopular invitation to accountability — to truly and consistently bear each other’s burdens in the pursuit of marriage (Galatians 6:2). Maybe that term — accountability — has dried out and gone stale in your life. But to be accountable is to be authentically, deeply, consistently known by someone who cares enough to keep us from making mistakes or indulging in sin. TO BE CONTINED…….
