Stress Points to Life Points Day 4 Dating

Welcome to Day 4 of Stress Points to Life Points!

Day 4 Stress Point Dating

Just as I mentioned in Stress Point for both of the dating chapters, this section (Day 4 and Day 5) is for everyone, regardless of your dating status. If you are single, this is for YOU. If you are dating seriously, this is for YOU. If you are engaged, this is for YOU. And, if you are married, this is for YOU, too. Lean on in and listen to this one piece of advice for successful relationships...

Date Jesus FIRST.

You heard me right. Isn’t it so easy to let that mushy gushy feeling of being in loooooove distract us from our relationship with God? We get caught up in the fun happenings of getting prettied up for hot dates, going out to restaurants or movies or whatever that it is tempting to let our time with Jesus slide to the back burner. Here’s the deal, though. When we keep our KING in the center of our romantic relationships He...

~Protects our heart if/when the guy crosses a line...

~Guides us in godly behavior that really is for our own good...

~Shows us if Mr. Right is really not so...well...right for us

~Shows us how to love your guy with an unselfish love that sustains relationships and takes them to amazing levels of trust and intimacy.

Jesus is the perfect example of true LOVE. In order to survive the dating world and move into relationships that please the Lord, we must imitate Jesus. Love HIM first. Serve Him first. Then we will best know how to love and serve others, including the guy in your life. This takes intentional time in the Bible daily to stay accountable for our behavior while in that swooning phase of dating.

Truth Point: So imitate God. Follow Him like adored children, and live in love as the Anointed One loved you—so much that He gave Himself as a fragrant sacrifice, pleasing God. (Ephesians 5:1-2 THE VOICE)

From my book Stress Point: Thriving Through Your Twenties In A Decade of Drama:

This author of romance is our Immanuel, God with us. We see the name Immanuel used in the New Testament when God announces to Mary, Jesus’ mother, that she will give birth to a son and they will call Him Immanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:22–24). You might recall this detail from the Christmas story; I know the sweetness of the idea that God is with us has stuck with me since childhood. God literally came to earth to be with us when He sent His Son, Jesus. Then, because Jesus, our Immanuel, died on the cross for us, we still have God with us as the Holy Spirit living in our heart. All it takes to feel God’s presence with you is to believe that Jesus is your Lord, Savior, and King.

Through every stage of life—the good, the bad, and the ugly—God is with us. This includes our romantic life. What girl doesn’t want to feel as though she’s the only one in the room, the most beautiful, absolutely captivating to someone? Our Immanuel makes this a reality. The people of God, the Israelites, lived in an on-again, off-again relationship with God in which they continuously fell away from and cycled back to their belief in their Immanuel. We too often live out this type of faith, as dating is usually a distraction to our all-out worship at the throne of our King. Yet He continues to welcome us back, forgiving our waywardness...

God wants us to long for Him, and Him alone. He calls us to worship at His throne because this worship puts us in a mind-set in which He alone can meet our needs and speak to our hearts. Because He is Immanuel, God with Us, the Lord knows our desires in dating, and He truly does want us to find happiness and love—the kind only He can give. When we are secure in worshiping at the throne of our Immanuel, our God who is always with us no matter what, we are okay with even being without a boyfriend or husband. At first the concept might be scary, but He pours His love and security over us and we grow to be okay with whatever romantic situation we find ourselves in. {Stress Point pages 81-83}