TRUE LOVE; In A World Of False Hope

Never do something permanently foolish just because you are temporarily upset.
While you know yourself as a creation of God, You are also obligated to realize and remember that everyone else and everything else is also God’s creation.
Someone else doesn’t have to be wrong for you to be right.

I am waiting for the ideal person,

We all say! But the ideal person is somewhere,

In front of us…in the future! See, you may alter the place to,

Which you are going, but you cannot alter the place from which you,

Have come! In the upper world hell once rebelled against heaven. But in this,

World heaven is rebelling against hell. A revolution is a restoration. At any time you,

May strike a blow for the perfection which none have seen since Adam.

Too often as Christians we redefine Holiness to fit the time,

Culture or situation we find ourselves in. But “Love,

Dating and marriage is modeled to work on

Persistence, repentance, joy and grace.”

Teacher Amos.

At TRT - On Thursdays we talk about #ChristianDating
 

A few minutes before we began writing this article a text message popped up on my screen from a dear friend by the name Dorcas Gitari saying (and I quote):

“When you think about marriage don’t bother much about who to marry, but are you marriageable? That’s the concern. Wisdom Breed, 2020.”

To Date Or Not to Date?

Here at TRT we say do date. “Don’t date” is good advice if the intended date is with someone who is not a Christian. You can do plenty of things and for friends who are not Christians. Dating is not one of them. Dating can be a way to trust God. Exploring lifelong possibilities with a friend can be tremendous exercise of faith. In getting to know someone, you get to know yourself better. Learning to trust God with new feelings, physical temptations, personal comfort zones and the opposite sex can help make your relationship with God more honest. Let me be quick to note that this isn’t a reason to date but it does address blanket prohibitions in doing so.

Dating can be distracting but it doesn’t have to be. It’s good to be clear about the kind of distraction under consideration. Often, as unknown becomes known, distracting and preoccupying tendencies give way to greater focused creativity and increased energy. This can happen when two people who are dating discover common interests and are surprised to find similar experiences.

You may claim to avoid dating because it can distract you from your relationship with God; but again it is all too easy to get distracted from disciplines that encourage healthy personal relationships with God, his people and his work. Dating is hardly the only culprit that can foster such distraction. Look at the jobs we do that at times demand that you are at work throughout the entire week. In fact dating can be a good training ground so that come the time you settle down in marriage you’ll have known how to manage a family and at the same time serve God without having to claim that either your spouse or kid are slowing down your zeal to serve. All the pleasures of life are given by God for our good. We can corrupt them or we can learn to celebrate them with holiness and joy.

What about being ready before a dating relationship?

Be ready for what? Or maybe you are thinking about the vulnerability of increasing relational intimacy or the temptation of sexual lust. This implies having an impenetrable shield against the harsh realities of life. For instance does death or even sicknesses like corona wait or give you time to be ready? Do you think when it comes to dating you will ever be ready? As a Christian you are a soldier…to mean you have to always be ready. This soldier idea partly explains why as Christians we walk by faith and not by sight.

We cannot live by faith and eliminate life’s unpredictable emotions, vulnerabilities or temptations. We can learn to trust God with the risks and realities of life. He will teach us how to be wise and not foolish. We can learn that during times when emotional injury, relational vulnerability and temptations are real, that God is the greater reality.

None of us is ever completely ready for an intimate relationship. We never know enough to know who we are. Even with the love of 1^st Corinthians 13 we see but a poor reflection of ourselves, others or our God. No one is ever completely ready for life. We are never completely in control. This is exactly the situation that makes for a life of faith.

God recognized that in our perfect beginning that it was not right for man to be alone. He has not changed his mind. This is to mean that someday this may mean committing unto a lifelong marriage relationship with a special companion of the opposite sex. It is risky but it is also right. Dating is not the only way to discover if a partner can be a lifelong companion but it can however be one of the ways to just do that. In the power of the resurrection, believers can do all things to God’s glory.

As Christians we live in the fallen world but not simply as a fallen people. We are people who have been raised by Christ in his resurrection. Eden remains our perfect home. And step by step, day by day and moment by moment we edge our way back to Eden. In this life we will not arrive but in Christ we will for through Him we know the way back. Reclaiming God’s desire for sexual relationship is a journey towards the holiness of Eden.
Holiness is like a truly ultimate ideal, which must be an immovable standard.

( ...to be continued!)

In the meantime share with us your thoughts in the comments section and any question if any. Blessings to  you.
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