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Courting
by Laura Manley I am a woman, a mother, a grandmother, sister, aunt, friend, but incorporated in all those adjectives is the real me --- I am a born-again Christian. Those who write articles about teenagers and whether they should or should not date need to look at another avenue. I call it courting. This does not mean they cannot see one another; however, it does mean they are always supervised. Even the most dedicated Christian, teenager or older, put in the right circumstances is likely to be tempted. I have been a member of a few churches during my life. I like in particular the seating arrangement our church has devised for our youth. They sit in the first two pews of the church for each service. And they do not sit as boy and girl sitting next to each other, but they are divided by the aisle. We have a young couple in our church today who are, in my opinion, probably going to get married in the future. They are in their twenties, yet they do not even drive together in the same car without an adult with them. And the wonderful thing is that they welcome the supervision. They want to do things the "right" way. In another church, I saw young people getting married who had courted for some time. And when the Pastor pronounced them man and wife, it was their first kiss ever. The youth today are thrown into a world of lust and a "me" generation. To come across youth who want the Will of God is a priceless thing. God ordained marriage; He said nothing about living together and finding out what kind of toothpaste the other prefers or does he like his eggs over-easy or scrambled. I've seen the children in my current church develop from little children and believing only because mom and dad do, into wonderful young ladies and men who have a respect for the other gender you normally do not see. It is refreshing! Bottom line is that I object to dating between young people, or even older people for that matter. If they allow themselves to get into a situation of temptation, only they are to blame or the adults from which they should be receiving guidance.. Even if there have been some indiscretions, that doesn't mean they can't start over and make a pledge or covenant with God that they will remain pure from that moment forward until they are married. They will be happier for it. I am a 77-year young Christian writer whose desire is to make a positive difference in people's lives through my writing. My purpose is to show people the love of Jesus Christ. I have four wonderful children (two natural/two step), seven beautiful grandchildren, and one precious great-grandchild. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |