Well, dear Reader, the 3rd installment of the topic series, “Dating As Countercultural” is here. In this part, I explain how I started to look at dating in a new way—not like what I’d learned from TV and movies as a kid, and way different than what I had previously experienced in the bars and night clubs of my prodigal past.
By listening to someone from a previous generation who had a different outlook on dating than myself, I began to see, for the first time, that even though I was no longer living a sinful life, thanks to my conversion to Christ, I was still getting the dating thing wrong. From there, I began to develop a set of workable goals, and gather together new tools for dating that helped me stay on course, even through the challenges that were to come.
This was the beginning of what became, for me, a transformative dating ‘program’ of sorts. Years before, when I first learned how to live free from alcohol and drugs, I had to follow a program of action to change my thinking and my life. Well, with dating, I needed something just as powerful and concrete. What I needed was a simple set of action guidelines that I could practice, and goals to strive for as I went along. Seeing dating in a different light was just one piece of the puzzle, but it was the beginning of a wave of new discoveries that I needed to ultimately solve the marriage question.
Please read carefully, and consider what suppositions about dating may be currently holding you back from dating effectively, or dating at all. This may be the beginning of your turning over a new leaf in this important area of your discernment and your walk with God.
I hope you enjoy it. Read the full article here.
Grow Up and Marry! 