Is dating a non believer really that bad?
For the youths on this world, it may not seem like an important issue nowadays to have relationships with non believers, it is not like either of you are willing to take it further, such as marriage.
But lets ask ourselves one question, why devote all your heart and time into that individual if you are not benefiting from it later on? Why follow their worldly habits and disappoint our Lord Jesus if they are not to be your spouse? Creating affectionate relationships with non believers is indeed a test for our faith.
Love is blind and Satan can slip into that blindness and craft a way for you to sin and go against God without conscious. We know about King Solomon, the wisest king of all nations, but yet he was not wise enough to distinguish Satans tricks in his love life.
Solomon was a loyal and god fearing king, but yet he had a feverish love for foreign woman. Was it not because of his weakness against his foreign wives that his righteous path got lead astray? We must not follow in Solomons path.
In Gods eyes, the people He had sanctified and had made such sacrifice to, should they again defile themselves by dating and accidently sinning?
He died on the Cross for us in order to wash away our sins and impurity, but we still walk blindlessly into those sins and traps of bonding in passion with gentiles and non believers, knowing well that it displeases him but still trying to quench the thirst for our worldly desires.
Even the most faithful and loyal to God man could be lead off into the wrong direction because of love and infatuation. Satan may not be stronger then God, but he is indeed stronger then the rest of us mere human beings.
Challenging Our Faith
It may not seem as if we are challenging our faith when our lovers are gentiles and non believers, but we are not only challenging our strength in faith but also testing Gods forgiveness in the things we do.
Intertwining our love with gentiles can cause us to stumble in our faith and bring milestones in Gods truth. Satan tempts us daily with different techniques to convey us to sin again God, but one of the easiest ways is through love and dating.
As part of this society, weve all heard the saying “Love is blind” and undeniably it sometimes is. Dating a non believer or gentile seems okay sometimes, everybody is doing it now.
But honestly, how many times have I seen sisters and brothers who have discontinue coming to church because they had tied the knot with an unbeliever? Sadly to say, there has been too many to count.
I have seen a various number of my favourite RE teachers, or a youth in church that I looked up to; leave because of their love for their gentile partner.
I have seen the process of their slow down fall of faith; from coming every Sabbath, to every second Sabbath, to once a month to a few times a year and eventually they are lost from Gods hands.
It is a heartrending situation to watch, and as a child I watched my role models in church turn away from God to satisfy their hunger for the people of the world.
Putting yourself in a situation where your other half is a non believer is quite crucial. Its like a battle and struggle in faith everyday. King Solomon married many foreign women. The Lord had told him to stay away from these gentiles for they may lead his heart astray and turn his head towards their gods.
But Solomon held fast to his love. Without a doubt in the end Solomon’s spiritual path mingled with the gentiles spirituality and his heart was no longer entirely devoted to God (1Kings 11:1-6).
We have all heard that Solomon was indeed a very righteous king, he was wise and had a close relationship with God. But in the end his spiritual strength was beaten by the power of his desires.
In our days, not only does marriage clash with our spirituality and faith but dating is also a great cause because its so easy and its our way of escaping the fact that we are sinning against God.
We have to keep in mind that Satan is always on the ball to turn our heads away from our Lord Jesus Christ and to the unholy, impure desires and luxuries that the world has to offer us. He tempts us with the beautiful women and handsome men of this world.
As a growing youth, we might think were unbeatable, that love will not get in the way of our faith. But it is so easy for Satan to just snap his fingers and create the perfect, cliche moment for us to fall into adultery.
We Are Different
We as Christians are different then Gentiles and non believers, in everything we do and everything we say, we are different then the people who dont follow God’s words. Our bodies were sanctified and purified when we were washed by his blood.
We are holy and children of God so we must remain separate from the unclean. Our bodies are filled with the Holy Spirit, which dwells in us, and we are to not defile this blessing by dating gentiles or nonbelievers.
In our living times now, the world is a sinful and appalling place full of adultery, sins and sexual immorality. Having Satan as the king of the world, we can see the process of corruption become more and more severe.
Almost daily we read or hear about unfathomable atrocities or freak crimes committed. Immorality and darkness keep a tight rein in todays world. We go to school and work and hear that so and so has been sleeping with so and so or whos dating who.
But having relationships with a male and female is so common now a days, theres nothing wrong with meshing or playing around with a person of the opposite sex. The world around us is beyond sinful making it seem like a light sin for people to do that.
Worldly entertainment shows us that dating is; loving, you get flowers, chocolates and unfailing love with a person, then you get married. But we have to remember that we are godly children, our bodies are the temple of god and we must keep his words in our hearts.
We are different then the world, and honestly, how many high school lovers have you seen give chocolates, flowers and get married afterwards?
God had once said “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common?”(2 Corinthians 6:14) we are righteous and we must learn to keep both our hearts and minds that way. We have no simiralities with gentiles and non believers, for we are from different categories.
We have chosen Gods words, where as the gentiles have chosen the world. But we have to be able to show the difference in our behaviour and how we portray ourselves, not only in church but in the environment around you wherever you go. We must be a good Christian to God by not dating and keeping his words.
When we let ourselves become physically and emotionally close with a gentile, we are facing a huge trench in our road to salvation. We are opening so many different roads that Satan can choose from. Parties, clubs, dates and movies, they all sound appealing to our humanly sense.
“ why not spend a night with your boyfriend/girlfriend and just have fun? ”No harm will be done, right? Wrong. Dont lie to yourself that this time will be the last time because tell me, when a child tastes candy once, can he restrain himself to taste it again later on?
God doesnt tempt us, he doesnt sit in heaven thinking about the ways he can make you fall. James writes plainly that God does not tempt anyone (Jas 1:13). Apostle John reiterates, “For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father but is the world”(1 John 2:16).
God does not trick us into committing sin and adultery; we are unintentionally tricking ourselves without knowing it. You might wonder sometimes, Why does God put such an attractive individual before and forbid me to interlock with him or her?
When you come to situations like these, pray, because God will guide you through it, you have to keep your faith strong and persevere it, for Satan is always waiting at the corner, ready to take you in his malevolence hands.
Through my eyes
As a growing teen in todays society, I am faced daily with temptations and sinful offerings that are not holy in the eyes of the Lord. Do you want a smoke? Want to party this Saturday? Want to go drinking tonight? Those are all phrases that a teen faces.
Yes, sometimes my faith will waver and I wouldnt be sure if I should reply with an agreement or not. But thank God every time a door like that opens, God moves the Holy Spirit in me to shut the door and stay on his holy path.
Dating is so universal and open now a days. Relationships arent about the emotional and understanding of your partner anymore, its about the physical stages youve accomplished. As a teen I find that we are the easiest targets for Satan and sin.
We are so vulnerable at this stage and we want so badly to fit in with our friends and peers. But doing that usually means doing wrong in the eyes of God.
Honestly, how much do you even hear “Lets go to the chapel to study the words of God”? Even in church it’s “So your going to that club with him tonight?” Its unbelievably how much power Satan has over our worldly needs.
Ive seen friends that I grew up with turn away from God because of their needs for the “love of their life”. Dating is so common that sometimes we dont even remember that its displeasing to God anymore because were too focused on how to please our worldly partners and blinded by the dark beauty.
But there everywhere!
How am I suppose to stop interacting with gentiles? Its impossible! That is true, each day we have to face them as we go about our daily lives, everywhere we go there are non believers and gentiles. Sometimes you may even be the only True Jesus Church member in your town. But that doesn’t mean you have to go date them.
Love isnt inevitable, as long as we keep our distance and limits clear. We dont have to go into a physical and emotional level with the opposite sex because all our friends are doing it.
We dont need that extra hunky guy as arm candy or that slim pretty girl to impress our friends. We need to impress God; show him that you can hold fast to the truth even though you are surrounded with evil and sexual immorality.
We dont have to be searching for our spouse or partner because God has your life written out. He knew what was going to happen through out your life before you were even born. He had carefully planned out all the good, the bad, every scratch and scar you have and every emotional or physical strive you go through.
So we must trust God in our relationships and trust that he will find the right person. We shouldnt take dating a gentile as a light matter because it is actually a serious sin that can lead to deadly sin.
Our God is the one true God and he would never do you wrong. Put your trust in him and keep it in your prayers that he may find you a loyal and god loving partner to spend your days with and to serve the Him together.
Pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit and abundantly trust in God that he will fulfill your life and shower you with blessings. So the next time your faced the a temptation, dont give in to that alluring female co worker, or that cute guy sitting in front of you in English class. Keep your distance and God will look after you.