Teen Age Dream - The Final Talk

Ok, I hope this will be my last post on teen dating for a while. The way high school students approach romance is a huge deal. It effects all their relationships, relationships with friends, relationships with family and yes relationship with God.

You can look here to see an outline of the entire series.

Teen Age Dream - A Look at Teen Romantic Relationships

We did our final talk last night on romantic relationships and and I finally gave them some practical advice. We were careful not to say "thus saith the Lord" because I don't want some sort of extra Biblical legalism. In fact, these final points simply flow from wisdom from the Word and experience.

I'm finding from my life group leaders that my main points frustrated some of them and made others angry.

Of course there was much more said, but here's the gist of the outline.

7 Oh, let me warn you, sisters in Jerusalem,
by the gazelles, yes, by all the wild deer:
Don't excite love, don't stir it up,
until the time is ripe — and you're ready

1. Yes, but not yet…
Be patient

2. Say no to exclusive relationships

It seems high school relationships are just like marriages without the ring, vowes and sex, well, sometimes without the sex. When you think about it, when we are “going with” someone or “facebook” official it’s just like a marriage. You can cheat on the other person, you can break up with that person….

3. Remember there is strength in numbers
a. It’s much safer from a physical temptation perspective
b. It allows Christian community to speak into the relationship
c. It slows down emotional intimacy
d. It prevents that weird go crawl into a hole dating thingy

4. Remember your heart belongs to Jesus.
He is the only person who can ever truly “complete” you.

Zeph 3:17
17 The Lord your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing."

I shouldn't be surprised students are frustrated but it does make me a little sad. It exposes how important it is for us to gently lead students through the journey.

May we show them and lead them to the passionate love of Jesus. Then and only then will they find satisfaction in him and nowhere else.