The Laws of Attraction

Myth 1: Dating isn’t a big deal, it’s just having fun.

Lots of people do it. It’s just fun. It is part of a healthy High School experience. I’m mature enough to handle it. Lots of people have dated and turned out fine.

Reality: You are playing with fire.

Song of Solomon 8:6–7 NASB95

6 “Put me like a seal over your heart, Like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, Jealousy is as severe as Sheol; Its flashes are flashes of fire, The very flame of the Lord. 7 “Many waters cannot quench love, Nor will rivers overflow it; If a man were to give all the riches of his house for love, It would be utterly despised.”

Myth 2: Dating is about self-discovery, which is important.

If I don’t date, I won’t be able to know who I truly am, and what I am truly attracted to!

Reality: Dating often leads to self-confusion.

Proverbs 30:18–19 NASB95

18 There are three things which are too wonderful for me, Four which I do not understand: 19 The way of an eagle in the sky, The way of a serpent on a rock, The way of a ship in the middle of the sea, And the way of a man with a maid.

Myth 3: Dating is the only way to find your true love.

How am I supposed to ever find my true love if I don’t start getting out there and exploring relationships?

Reality: God is the source of all good gifts.

James 1:14–16 “14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.”

James 1:17 NASB95

17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

Ecclesiastes 9:9 NASB95

9 Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.

Proverbs 18:22 NASB95

22 He who finds a wife finds a good thing And obtains favor from the Lord.

Myth 4: The Bible says nothing about dating, so it’s fine.

There are no verses in the Bible that give commands about dating. We can do whatever we want.

Reality: The Bible rejects recreational romance.

1 Thessalonians 4:1–2 “1 Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. 2 For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 4:3–6 NASB95

3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you.

1 Thessalonians 4:7–8 “7 For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. 8 So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.”