Question 2 - What does the Bible say about Relationships before Marriage?

Question #2 – What does the Bible say about Relationships before Marriage?
Now I am assuming the person who asked this question is talking about dating relationships. That is at least how I am going to answer it. Now I am going to be honest and say that the Bible is relatively silent on the issue of dating and the reason why that is because dating did not really occur at this period of time. The marriage custom at the time was that when a child got to the age of puberty, commonly 13 for boys and 12 for girls, the Father would find a bride for his sons. So this meant that if I had a son once he reached 13 I would begin looking to find a girl of 12 or older and would ask her father to arrange a marriage. Most didn’t get married until they were 16-18.
So then what does this mean for Christian dating? There are a ton of great Books out there that take principles found in the Bible and apply them to our 21st century custom of dating. What is my stance? Now this is just my opinion, but I didn’t date in High School. Why didn’t I date? I will just be honest with you, I didn’t date because I have these things called hormones and during your High School years they seem to be firing at an exponential rate. So to put it bluntly, I didn’t date because all I wanted to do with a girl in high school was to make out them. I am just being honest! Since my only motivation to dating was to gratify a physical desire, that is called lust. 1 Timothy 5:2 says “Treat older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.” And until I was ready to see that girl I took out as a sister of Christ and it was my responsibility to treat her with absolute purity. So no, I didn’t start dating until I was at a point where I could date someone with the intent of it going to marriage.
Well then how do you get to a point where you learn to get along with girls? Although I did not have a girl-friend, I had many friends who were girls. I learned to interact with girls, how to talk to girls, and learned quickly that girls solve problems and think differently than us guys do. I think everybody should have friendships with the opposite sex. Now that is just my opinion. But that is what I believe.
And just a little side note, let me just vent for a second. Let’s talk about this word Love for a moment. Meredith and I were talking today about friends we have known who have just rushed into marriage under the impression that they were “in love” and got engaged after only 4 or 5 months of dating married just 4 months later and divorced 1 or 2 later…. When I was your age I bought into the fact that love was a feeling.. I am here to tell you that love is not a feeling.. Love is a commitment. When you tell somebody you love them, what you should be telling them is no matter what the circumstances are, no matter what changes, I will always be here. I will always be at your side. And I certainly believe that. Don’t go dropping that L-Bomb because you feel a connection with somebody.. Only drop it if you are willing to make that commitment. Alright I feel better.