Where God's Word Meets Our Mess
Hi friends! Today’s post is a video interview I did with Bob Wheatley, a single Christian guy in his 30s who once played professional baseball and now writes and speaks. I hope this conversation edifies you and reminds you that your season of singleness has significance.
I’m not going to pretend I’m an expert on dating apps because I’m not. I’m also not going to pretend the Bible addresses dating apps because it doesn’t. For those two reasons, I can’t say concretely that using dating apps is or isn’t wrong. However, I still have lots of thoughts and observations about this topic that will hopefully help guide you in your dating app decisions.
Maybe you’ve never dated anyone either—or you’ve dated very few people—and you’re afraid of doing the whole dating thing “wrong.” Unfortunately, your fears about dating seem to be getting worse, especially as you get older. As a fellow inexperienced dater, I want to share an encouraging truth with you that will hopefully help you conquer your fears about dating.
Seven years ago, I published a post called Are You Ready for a Romantic Relationship? right before Valentine’s Day. In that post, I shared a few indicators that someone might not be ready for a romantic relationship. But honestly, I didn’t focus enough on the most obvious (and significant) indicator that someone isn’t ready for a romantic relationship, so I'll do that in this post. Consider it a very delayed sequel.
There are so many things God designed a man and woman to experience and enjoy in marriage, but this post just focuses on three of them. I do want to note that the unique characteristics of marriage included below are based on God’s intent for marriage. I realize some marriages are very challenging, dysfunctional, and/or brief. However, imperfect marriages exist because of the Fall, not because of a flaw in God’s design. With that in mind, let’s examine three major distinctions between marriage and friendship.
Several weeks ago, I listened to a podcast episode during which a pastor discussed a sermon he’d preached about true love. Ultimately, it seemed like he viewed marriage and friendship as equivalent. He treated them as substitutes—as if there are no major differences between them. But I was frustrated with his message because there are major differences between friendship and marriage, and honestly, that frustration fueled this post.
I recently had a chat with my friend Brittany Braswell—a Registered Dietician and the host of Faith-Filled Food Freedom—about navigating recovery, especially while developing and maintaining relationships. Her name might sound familiar to you because I've been on her podcast in the past (plus I've interviewed her for TTT). I so appreciate Brittany, and I can't wait for you to check out our most recent conversation!
But even though I didn't meet my future husband at college, I don't regret not chasing guys while I was there. I know that singleness was the best thing for me then—and is the best thing for me right now—because I believe God's timing for my life is good. And I believe the same thing about His timing for yours, Single Girl.
True confession—it’s difficult to not covet my friends’ marriages. Even though I know coveting is a sin, I succumb to this temptation far too often. God’s Word is clear about not coveting what other people have, but how can we avoid it?
Tizzie's Tidbits of Truth 