// the mistake so many of us make in dating
and the better path of God’s best design //
How many of us have stayed in relationships we shouldn’t be in, settled for behaviors we shouldn’t put up with, and ultimately sacrificed experiencing the very best of God’s design?
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I have.
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I think often we get confused—especially when we find ourselves falling in love for the first time. We think, “Relationships aren’t easy. They require work. They require compromises.” And we end up making compromises in the name of love that never should have to be made & that are not in line with God’s heart for dating relationships.
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I know I did.
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Friends, I want to remind you that you should never compromise your beliefs or boundaries for love. If you are in dating someone and find yourself doing so, please prayerfully consider if they are God’s absolute best for you.
When I met Clay, I didn’t have to make one compromise when it came to God’s design.
You are not a victim of your love story.
You are not a victim of falling in love.
We choose who we love. We choose who we date. And ultimately we choose what compromises we make.
Gary Thomas speaks such truth in The Sacred Search when he writes:
“When you walk down that aisle (or wait at the end of the aisle), and you say ‘I do,’ you are called to love that person unconditionally. You are called to enhance their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. You are called to make the relationship work no matter what.
When you are in a dating relationship, you are not called to love that person unconditionally. You are called to enhance their weaknesses and minimize their strengths. You are not called to make that relationship work no matter what.”
God often calls us to give Him our good before we can receive His best.
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I pray you seek and wait for and find His best.
I pray one day you walk down that aisle and say “I do” to a spouse who will love you the way you truly deserve to be loved—with a love that comes from a heart after Jesus, with the love that comes from seeking and knowing Him, with a love like that which I have found with Clay.
And I pray you never compromise on or settle for anything less than later the very best of God’s design along the way.
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If you want to learn more about what God’s design for dating relationships is, I have a free PDF download of my series “Waiting and Dating: a 7 Week Guide to Godly Relationships” available when you subscribe!
