Deepening intimacy without defining a level of commitment is dangerous. It's like going mountain climbing with a partner who isn't sure she wants the responsibility of holding your rope...
What we fail to see is that the intimacy we experience in our string of emotional hook-ups is counterfeit. Romantic passion is sweetest when it's growing out of a relationship that's deepening in devotion.
The joy of intimacy is the reward of commitment...
Proverbs 3:3 states, "Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart." God wants love and faithfulness to be connected. In His plan, the personal benefits of an intimate relationship--emotional or sexual--are always closely linked to self-sacrificial love and commitment to a person's long-term good.
The way of sin is to divorce the two... This is how sin works. It calls us to "enjoy ourselves with love" without worrying about the good of others. It offers intimacy without obligation.
Pursuing intimacy without commitment awakens desires--emotional and physical--that neither person can justly meet. In 1 Thessalonians 4:6(KJV) the Bible calls this "defrauding," ripping someone off by raising expectations but not delivering on the promise...
This is the reason I stopped dating. Not because I don't want to get married. Not because I don't enjoy romance. But because I realized that I need to wait on romance until I can match my pursuit of intimacy with a pursuit of commtiment.
It doesn't mean I have no relationships with the opposite sex or no intimacy, but rather appropriate relationships and approriate intimacy...
But how close can we get before the relationship has to be redefined? How far can we go as friends before our hearts kick into gear?
...The issue is whether the intimacy in your relationship is appropriate to your current level of commitment.
[from I Kissed Dating GOODBYE by Joshua Harris]
What we fail to see is that the intimacy we experience in our string of emotional hook-ups is counterfeit. Romantic passion is sweetest when it's growing out of a relationship that's deepening in devotion.
The joy of intimacy is the reward of commitment...
Proverbs 3:3 states, "Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart." God wants love and faithfulness to be connected. In His plan, the personal benefits of an intimate relationship--emotional or sexual--are always closely linked to self-sacrificial love and commitment to a person's long-term good.
The way of sin is to divorce the two... This is how sin works. It calls us to "enjoy ourselves with love" without worrying about the good of others. It offers intimacy without obligation.
Pursuing intimacy without commitment awakens desires--emotional and physical--that neither person can justly meet. In 1 Thessalonians 4:6(KJV) the Bible calls this "defrauding," ripping someone off by raising expectations but not delivering on the promise...
This is the reason I stopped dating. Not because I don't want to get married. Not because I don't enjoy romance. But because I realized that I need to wait on romance until I can match my pursuit of intimacy with a pursuit of commtiment.
It doesn't mean I have no relationships with the opposite sex or no intimacy, but rather appropriate relationships and approriate intimacy...
But how close can we get before the relationship has to be redefined? How far can we go as friends before our hearts kick into gear?
...The issue is whether the intimacy in your relationship is appropriate to your current level of commitment.
[from I Kissed Dating GOODBYE by Joshua Harris]
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