Recently, a lot of my friends have been getting into relationships. Some of which are healthy, some of which are not. And I’ve been talking to them and listening to sermons and reading Bible passages on dating. It’s been a very interesting learning process. At first there were just so many differing opinions that I didn’t know what to think. But it’s slowly coming together.

We can spend all day bringing up passages about being unequally yoked and such, but I think sometimes we forget that we are here for God. Everything in life comes down to living for His glory. As John Piper puts it, at the end of time, marriage will be no more, but worship is still eternal. When people try to break everything down in a theological step-by-step “moral” way, they often forget that.

This is what I mean. God isn’t just a dude who made a bunch of rules for us to follow. He’s a best friend, and He’s Savior and Lord. And such a relationship has no formula. In fact, relationships as a whole are not formulaic or mathematical. When we love someone, we strive to please that person not just because it’s a duty but because we find joy in pleasing that person. When we love God, it is no different. It’s not an issue concerning how I can date without disobeying God or how I can date without screwing up my relationship with God. It’s about how I can glorify God through what I do. If 1 Corinthians tells us to glorify God through what we eat and drink, surely we can glorify God through how we date. And we do it for our joy.

I realize that you can’t force yourself to have joy. But when God is your #1, joy is only natural.

– Larry