Single Christian Dating Advice
From Adviceopedia
Single Christian Dating Advice and Tips
Church Is For God, Not Dating
The best single Christian dating advice may be to try finding someone at your church, but it shouldn’t be your primary focus. Get involved with other singles and meet new people while remembering that you are there to worship, serve and learn. If you feel plugged in at your church, don’t go church shopping just because you haven’t met someone yet.
Pray About Finding Someone
Don’t forget to pray that God will bring someone into your life. Ask that who, and the timing, be God’s will instead of your own.
Have Fun
Sometimes it’s so easy to get caught up in despair when you don’t have a boyfriend or girlfriend. Take advantage of being single by doing things you enjoy and don’t think about being alone. Someone special will enter your life soon enough.
Consider People of Other Denominations
Don’t limit yourself to people who identify with your denomination. Someone from other denominations may have more in common with you spiritually than you realize.
Use Online Dating Services
Finding other single Christians online is a great way to begin dating. Use either web sites that specialize in Christian dating or that allow you to search for members who identify themselves as Christians.
Single Christian Dating Advice: Dating Non-Christians
Being involved with someone who doesn’t share your faith will make it difficult to have a fully intimate relationship. It can be tempting to start dating a non-Christian in the hopes that they will begin to share your faith over time. Needing or wanting someone to change is a lot to ask—and accomplish—so consider this before becoming too involved emotionally with a non-Christian.
Discuss Physical Boundaries
Once your relationship starts being physical with hugging, hand-holding and kissing, discuss with your partner the boundaries that you want to set. If it’s your goal to not have sex before marriage, you will need to communicate this desire to your partner. Ideally this should be done before it becomes difficult to stop.
Be Realistic About Intimacy
Its one thing to discuss your physical intimacy limits, but quite another to achieve your goals. Avoid being in situations that will make it difficult to stop what you are doing physically.
Attend Worship Together
It may seem like obvious advice, but attend worship service together with the person you are dating. You’ll start a habit that will carry forward into marriage and it will feel great to sit next to someone you care about.
Don’t Rush Into Marriage
Christians often feel pressure to get married, whether it’s because of abstaining from sex or feeling isolated in the church as a single person. Marriage is a serious commitment, however, so don’t rush to tie the knot. At the moment it may feel like you’ll be single forever, but a wedding—and the honeymoon—will come sooner than you think. Enjoy dating and getting to know someone without putting too much pressure on yourself.
Discuss Spiritual Matters
Just because you met at church or on a Christian dating web site, it doesn’t mean you are compatible spiritually. Talk about your faith with each other and discover what you have in common and whether you have different viewpoints.
Seek Advice from a Minister
If you have different spiritual viewpoints than your partner, seek the advice of a minister on how to handle those differences. Don’t automatically assume that because you have differing opinions that a relationship will not work. A minister is also a good source for other single Christian dating advice.
More than Just Spiritually Compatible
While being spiritually compatible is important, but there are many other dimensions to being very compatible with someone. Use your spiritual togetherness as a starting point for discovering other ways you are compatible.
Safety First
Use common sense when going out on a date for the first time. Someone you meet at church is not likely to hurt you, but don’t provide anyone the opportunity. Play it safe until you get to know him or her better. Consider going out on a group date with other single Christians before dating alone.
Submitted by Rick Fulks
