Dating in the Bible

My story:

Wanted a girlfriend. Asked a girl to the winter dance. Got rejected. Asked a different girl out, like the next day. We dated for a few months, then I met this other girl that I liked more, so I broke up with that girl and tried to date another girl. It was really bad. I was trying to find fulfillment in a relationship.

I think a lot of people do that. They want to know how they relate to the opposite gender in a romantic way. Dating relationships are an important part of life, even in high school—maybe especially in high school. A little less than half of high school students have dated someone. I think that’s an important stat because it shows that there is no “normal” when it comes to dating in high school. Sometimes I think people can think, I’m the only one who isn’t in a relationship! But the truth is that it’s pretty evenly split.

Now, here’s the deal. I love the Bible. I believe the Bible is the ultimate source of truth in the world. I believe the Bible tells us everything we need to know to live life well. I talk about it probably way too much. But, when we come to the Bible on dating, it offers us basically nothing that is specifically about dating - because dating as we know it didn’t exist in biblical times.

So, some people take the examples of people in the Bible who are get married, and look at what led up to it, and try to pull out principles from it. Like Isaac, when he gets married to Rebekah, or Jacob, when he gets married to Rachel. So, guys, if you want a girl: you have two options. First, you can get your dad to send his servant out and find one for you, or you can find a girl you like, make a deal with her dad to work for seven years, marry her sister, then work another seven years to marry her. And girls, you pretty much do nothing. Just wait for your dad to figure it out for you.