LOVE AND DATING SERIES - Part 2 A

God's Heart for Relationships.

Hello friend,

You are doing great, I believe? Glad to have you.

Having defined "Love by the Book", caught a glimpse of "The Portrait of Love" and received that "Love Letter" from God; having seen God’s perfect love for you in such in-depth and profound way; having received this precious and unexplainable gift, I know you’re ready to give it out. However, suffice it to say that you do nothing to merit this gift of God’s marvelous love. That it is a ‘gift’ is evidence enough that it wasn’t earned by works done, but by believing in what Jesus did at the cross. Hence, the term ‘unmerited loving-kindness, mercy and favor’.

I know you’re ready to give love out - to date. But before then, just how important are our relationships to God? Is God concerned about our relationships at all, seeing He has 'a universe to run'?

God made humans creatures that long for relationships - with God and with his fellow humans. God Himself so created us to have certain relationships in our lives, to fulfill His good will and plan for us, thus revealing His Father-heart of love towards us. Also, He made us to desire human companionship in the form of a boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife etc. in order to make life enjoyable. Therefore, our human relationships matter to God; He is concerned about it as He is about our relationship with Him.

God's heart concerning this is seen creation. After making the world and beautiful Eden for man's habitation, God created Adam. Were God not concerned about our human relationships, there wouldn't have been any point in creating Eve for Adam. Adam had more than he could ever need materially, but was insufficient in human relationships.

"Now the Lord God said, It is not good (sufficient, satisfactory) that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper meet (suitable, adapted, complementary) for him."

Genesis 2:18; Amplified Bible.

From the opening words of that verse, I can see that this whole issue of relationship was not Adam's proposition; rather it was God's idea. He saw a need that Adam himself couldn't see - the need to get a spouse (or girlfriend, putting in contemporary language). How did God meet this need?

Further revealing His Father-heart of love, God took it upon Himself to see to it that the need is met. I'd like to draw your attention to the phrase, "...I will..." in the above quoted verse. That is to say that God did not delegate the task of searching for his "helper suitable, adapted, complementary" to Adam. Not to some angels either! God Himself took full responsibility for it. That's a crucial matter! Why would God do that if He weren't interested in our relationships?

We know that no one is perfect. But God has a 'perfectly imperfect' person who perfectly complements you. Hence, He stepped on the scene, not to stop you, but to show you who that person is. By that, I seem to hear God saying: "You know, this topic of dating is not one to gloss over superficially. It is not good enough for My people to be without meaningful spiritually healthy and morally wholesome relationships; I have not created you to live that way - in solitariness. In fact, I permit you to date, however, let me show you how. I have a few keys to help you have a great time."

We cannot rely on our wisdom, vast and incisive understanding of psychology and theories of temperament (as helpful as they are) to inform our decision of who to date/court and ultimately marry. As far as precise and accurate knowledge of the other person is concerned, no one on earth can fully have that. I cannot tell what's going on inside of you even as you read this; only your spirit/soul can. Likewise, you cannot fully understand me - even if you've been with me for donkey years! Only God can and does. Therefore if I must get a grasp of your true personality and our real compatibility, I've got to depend on God's revelation of it to me, and that by His Spirit within me.

That's one of the reasons God gave us the Holy Spirit: to teach us all things about the other person, guide us into all the truth and give us the discerning of spirits (John 14:26; 16:13; 1 Corinthians 12:8-11).

I have set out in this piece to help us further see that God is concerned about our relationships; He is not against dating, as long as it is done according to His guiding precepts. God has packaged these keys to help us make the most out of life in relation to dating. In our subsequent posts, we shall briefly consider four suggestions to help us with dating. However, only when you have received God's love through faith in Christ Jesus, can you genuinely love others. (Please refer to "Love by the Book", "Portrait of Love" and "Love Letter").

Remember, God is interested in YOUR dating relationship, but also longs for a relationship with YOU.

"From one person God made all nations who live on earth, and He decided when and where every nation would be. God has done all this so that we will look for Him and reach out and find Him. He isn't far from any of us, and He gives us the power to live, to move and be who we are. 'We are His children', just as some of your poets have said."

Acts 17:26-28; Contemporary English Version.

Have a lovely day.