What Is God’s Heart on Dating and Courtship?
God is the author of relationships, a fact clearly revealed in His relationship with the first man and woman He created.
He spent time with them daily and knew them intimately. His heart is for every person to have a relationship with
Him. God is also deeply interested in our relationships with one another and has revealed His heart, His thoughts,
and His desires for us in His Word.
“Teach me to do your will, for you are my God;
may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”
(Psalm 143:10)
God desires that Christians date only those who have yielded their lives to Christ and are in the right relationship with Him.
“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship
can light have with darkness? . . . Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?” (2 Corinthians 6:14–15).
God desires that you know the meaning of genuine love and date those with these attributes.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects,
always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13:4–7).
God desires that you date those who are committed to purity and live according to His Word.
“How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word” (Psalm 119:9).
God desires that you pursue godly qualities in your life and date those who are like-minded.
“Pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22).
God desires that you and those you date honor each other with self-control toward each other.
“Each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable” (1 Thessalonians 4:4).
God desires that you and those you date speak the truth in love to each other and grow in Christian maturity before each other.
“Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ”
(Ephesians 4:15).
God desires that, as you date, you encourage one another and build each other up.
“Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
God desires that your dating relationship be a means of sharpening one another in character.
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17).
God desires that in your dating relationship you seek to please Him above all others.
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love
your neighbor as yourself’” (Luke 10:27).
