Carrie-Beth's Story!

Hey girls, I just wanted to share with you one of my experiences in dating with a Christ centered heart (or at least an attempt at that. ;)) Here's a little back story first on my relationship : I met my boyfriend at my church in my youth group. He's a great Christian guy, always talking about his faith, working in missions at church, and he really has a heart for his lost friends. We became friends quickly and got along really well. Within 3 weeks of meeting me, he asked me out. I wasn't ready at the time to commit to a relationship with anyone, and I had recently been hurt by a guy and I wasn't sure how ready I was to interpret my feelings at that time, so I turned him down. Well I thought that was it...it was over and done. I was wrong. haha. About 2 weeks after I turned him down, I started liking HIM. yeah. So I told him what was going on, and that I just needed time to pray about it and to figure things out. I told him that at any point, I wouldn't blame him for moving on. I prayed about this decision for 2 months before I finally decided. (In the mean time we got to know each other much better and became good friends). And what honestly stuck out to me the most, was that he waited. He liked me enough to wait until God told me what to do. That was a huge deal to me...that someone liked me enough to wait. Anyway, long story short we started dating in August, and have been dating for almost 5 months now. It has been one of the most wonderful experiences I've had, mainly because we are both so in love with Christ, and our committment is to Him above all else. My point in my back story is WAIT. Pray about a guy before you date him. Is this guy the person God has for you at this time? If you aren't sure, keep praying. If the guy truely likes you, and is a young man of God, he will wait until the Lord speaks to you about it. (But not like a year...the guy might not wait that long. haha. But you get my point).

Okay, so...now that I've probably already bored you with that...here's my story.

Not too long ago, my boyfriend and I were talking on the phone. We were discussing how we wanted our relationship to be committed to Christ and His purpose for our it. We decided that, although from the beginning we had done that in our hearts individually to God, we wanted to talk about it and verbally say it. So basically we talked about how our relationship is unto God, and how we want to glorify Him in every aspect of it. How when people look at us, we want them to see him. We discussed how we want everything we do individually and as a couple to praise God. We also said that the length of the relationship was committed to God as well. As long as the Lord kept blessing our relationship and we felt it was still in His will, we would continue our relationship without a second thought. :) But if God told us to end it, then we would pray about it and do what the Lord commanded. We also discussed faithfulness and other aspects of 1 Cor. 13 love, which are our goals in our relationship (since God set those standards for love, we try to meet them in our relationship).
Not 2 minutes after this conversation ended, I got a text message from a guy that I used to be friends, but hadn't seen or talked to in about 6 months (just because we ran in different circles, no "bad blood" or anything. haha). He asked how I was doing, and we went through those "beginning conversation topics" (how are you? good, you? good. whatcha doing? nothing much, you? etc.). Well during that, I found out that he was hanging out with his girlfriend. I was like "awe how sweet" :) and i really thought it was good. Well later in the conversation he asked me if i wanted to hang out. I said, where and who with? He told me just us and that day. UM NO! I told him that he was with his girlfriend and I wouldn't do that because we were both dating other people. He told me that he could get his girlfriend to leave, and that neither of them would have to know anything about it. REALLY? NO! I told him that I wouldn't ever do that, and I ended the conversation.
So let's look at this...not 2 minutes after my boyfriend and I committed our relationship to Christ and his will, purpose, and standards for us, this guy texts me and begins tempting me to more or less cheat on my boyfriend. Wow. Girls, when you committ something to the Lord, Satan is going to try his best to attack it and destroy it. I had always heard that, but I had never experienced it, and it didn't think that it would happen so quickly. But its so true! You have got to be firm in your committments to the Lord and be on your guard. You may not be attacked in the same way that I was, but when you commit something to God, you will be attacked by Satan in some way. Just keep watch, cover your relationship with prayer, and always seek to glorify God in all aspects of your life. Now, this story wasn't to say "oh look at me! i beat temptation! i'm God's perfect child! woohoo!" no way! haha. I am FAR from that. I have made more than my fair share of mistakes. But I am writing this to warn you, to help you be ready when temptation comes knocking at your door. You can beat it, but you need to be ready. Committ everything you have to God, especially your relationships, and He will bless you beyond your imagination. Trust me. But when you do that, Satan's gonna come knocking. Just be aware and prepared. I love you all and I hope that I have helped you, or can help you, in some way.

May our Lord and Savior bless you girls!
"The Lord bless you and watch, guard, and keep you;
The Lord make His face to shine upon and enlighten you and be gracious (kind, merciful, and giving favor) to you;
The Lord lift up His [approving] countenance upon you and give you peace (tranquility of heart and life continually)."
Numbers 6:24-26 (Amplified Bible)