Protect Purity When You Downplay Dating

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Much of the confusion Christian parents and teens experience when it comes to dating exists because this modern-day tradition is not mentioned in the Bible. God’s Word was written in a time, at a place, and to a people familiar with betrothal. Arranged marriages and even legal customs were firmly in place to provide for a man and a woman to be linked together to raise a family and to continue a lineage. Interestingly, when a couple’s love story is mentioned in the Bible, the record shows that God actually did drop the right woman right in front of the man who was looking for her.

Adam and Eve. While Adam was sleeping, God formed Eve from one of his ribs, and then He brought her to him.
Isaac and Rebekah. Father Abraham sent his trusted servant in search of a wife for his son, Isaac. Through prayer, completely relying on God, the servant was able to spot Rebekah immediately, and she agreed to be Isaac’s wife, though they had never met!

Your daughter can explore the story
of Ruth in Get Real!

Ruth and Boaz. Ruth was a beautiful young widow, and the Bible suggests that Boaz was quite a bit older than she. Upon her arrival in Bethlehem, she “just happened” to go to work in Boaz’s field. When Ruth let him know that she was willing to be his wife, he said, “God bless you, my dear daughter! What a splendid expression of love! And when you could have had your pick of any of the young men around” (Ruth 3:10, Msg).

When we de-emphasize dating, we are helping our child display a splendid expression of love to his future spouse. The choice to forego dating (as our culture knows it) guards the heart, in order that it may be given fully to the future spouse, with no outstanding emotional ties. It gives kids the chance for real-time relationships, by providing the opportunity to develop lifelong friendships with persons of the opposite sex.

Why waste kisses? Why squander intimacy? Why grieve the Holy Spirit by defiling the body—the temple of God? Wouldn’t it be better if our kids could look back on their teen relationships without regrets but with plenty of fun memories? So how do you do that? Click on the links below!

Prepare your young children with positive imagery.
Provide your tweens with present-day examples.

This article and its links are excerpted from Season of Change: Parenting Your Middle Schooler with Passion and Purpose by Rebecca Ingram Powell.

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