I am what you could call one of those girls that was raised in a good Christian home. It was not conventional by any stretch of the imagination, but to say I was immersed in the Christian culture would be an understatement of epic proportions. Sometimes it really aggravated me, and there are moments that I look back on my childhood that I will be eternally grateful for.
Christian values are important to me, as much as they are to you. And whether you are a Christian or not won’t even matter for this advice article.
Because the Christian relationship advice that I am about to share with you today, is advice that will help any relationship work.
The best Christian dating advice that I have ever gotten came out of a seminar to my youth group when I was about 16. We would have these special speakers come in and talk to the youth about relevant concepts such as dating, relationships, peer pressure… you get the drill. There was one speaker that said something that I thought at the time I didn’t think much about.
But his statement made such a profound impact on me that even remembering that statement today I am taken back to that little yellow room with the white picket fence around it and the small group of bored teenagers that were listening to this guy talk like he knew stuff about dating.
He had a message for the young men, and a message to the young ladies. Oddly, it was the same message for both of us.
Do not stay with or marry somebody that does not treat you as if the very ground that you walk on is paved with gold.
It is a stunning visualization isn’t it?
Like I said, it was the best piece of relationship advice I’ve ever gotten, and as I mentioned, a good piece of advice for anyone wondering how to keep their relationships alive and well.
It all goes back to something that I have said repeatedly, you teach people how to treat you. You really do.
When it comes to being a Christian, if you ignore those values and standards that you hold dear just to get a date, keep a date, or keep someone in your life, you aren’t going to be treated the way you truly want and deserve to be treated. When you sacrifice something that is that fundamental to your inner core values, you are giving a piece of yourself away to someone that may not have earned that.
Are they doing the same thing for you? Are they making the same inner core value sacrifices that you are? They probably aren’t, and I hope that they aren’t.
If they were, your relationship is more dysfunctional than you think.
See, true love is about loving someone for who they are, all of those idiosyncrasies that makes them be that unique person is what you love. Love is not cherishing something that you think or want to change into something better. When you teach people that your values of Christianity are important to you, they respect that. That is the essence of christian dating.
The ones that don’t? Don’t deserve your time.
No of course people don’t walk on streets paved with gold, there is no such thing. But true love is watching your partner walk through their life in a way that is just simply lovely to you, no matter what. When you keep that frame of mind, you begin to attract the kind of people that are deserving of all of you.
Let’s be real. The jerks and the players of the world and the girls that are into drama and games are not looking for good Christian men or women to spend their time with. The good Christian men and women are looking for the guys and gals who won’t put up with those types.
And if you are in a relationship right now and think some Christian relationship advice would help to keep yours strong and growing, just remember what I said about watching your partner walk on streets of gold. Every street, even the gold ones, have a rough bump or two along the way. So things aren’t perfect, remember your partner has good qualities too that you fell in love with. That is a very Christian way to problem solve your way through to the next happy point in your journey.
It’s not about just having your standards and keeping them, it’s also about being proud of them. This in itself will help you teach people how to treat you, and keep your relationships alive, and well, and loving.
