Advice For Dating

ADVICE FOR DATING

Matthew 22:37 Jesus said to him, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind."

POINT OUT: Is this statement provided by Jesus, is this a suggestion? Is this a good idea? What is this? This is a command? And if we fail to love in such a way, we are technically sinning.

THE BIG QUESTION: Now this is the tough stuff, if the boy does not love the Lord his God with all his heart, all his soul, and all his mind, can he love your daughter with all his heart, all his soul, and all his mind? No way. So this is the first checkpoint.

LETTER FROM FACEBOOK: ANONYMOUS BUT FROM PUBLIC SETTING (I NEED ADVICE)

"I desperately need guidance in this new situation. This may seem a bit long-winded, however, I must tell someone I actually want to influence me more so than my parents. Please bare with me. Here is the situation.

I have a boyfriend who smokes, drinks (without getting drunk), and whose friends are party people. He is a country boy, but I like it enough because he treats me with gentle kindness and respect. He has promised to quit smoking for me, and has gone from half a pack a day to 3 cigarettes a day. He has started reading his bible again, and says he is a Christian, but I am not convinced. He wants to be baptized and wants to know more before he commits to it.

I love being with him. Especially since he respects the fact that I am waiting for marriage, if you catch my drift. Yesterday, my Dad yelled at me, quite loudly and disrespectfully about me taking my boyfriend out to dinner and paying. They don't want me to drive him around with the money they give me. All the while I was being pretty much verbally attacked, I just sat down and listened to my Dad without a word, except "yes sir" and "alright."

A couple of nights ago, my boyfriend said he loved me. I said thank you, not "I love you too" just to be in agreement with the moment. I didn’t say I love you back, because i am not sure yet. He wants to propose to me eventually and take me to Fiji. He is truly in love with me, it seems.

He has a long history of getting in trouble, which he doesn't talk about very often because he is very embarassed of it. He is mature and grown up for twenty years old. But my father thinks he should "man up" and take me out and do all the paying, which I think is not fair and seems like a double standard to men...I have incredibly strong compatibility and caring for him. I DON’T want to lose him or leave him, but unless he gets a serious passion for God, quits smoking, and gets a reasonable office job at the company (which he is promised), then I am forced to make a decision that will not only break his very heart, but torture mine. i feel trampled on by my parents, and displaced in my love life. Help. I’m very very serious about this one. I beg you, give me tough love if you must, but spit the truth to me."