Somewhere between my generation and the current one, dating became difficult—far more difficult than it had once been. I am sure the so-called “purity movement” bears at least some of the responsibility as does the modern-day hookup culture. So, too, do the ubiquity of pornography and the rise of social media and dating apps. What was once relatively straightforward seems to have become strangely complicated.
In his book Pure, Dean Inserra commends an approach that he calls “no regrets dating.” He suggests four simple and common-sense guidelines that can help couples date in a way that will leave them without shame and without regret, whether they go on to marry or to break up. I thought I’d share them with you.
Stop acting like you’re married when you’re not. We tend to see exclusive dating relationships as quasi-marriages in which couples quickly become strongly entangled emotionally, romantically, and even physically. But “for the Christian, if the only thing that changes when you get married is that you start having sex, something is wrong.” When Christians attach too much significance to mere dating relationships, they can actually signal that these are not too different from non-Christian relationships: “they
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