Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Why Not?

    The other day I mentioned to someone how I disapprove of teenagers dating. The reply to this was: “You’re just saying that because you’re jealous.” Even though it was said in jest, I was a little taken aback by this answer because the person who said it isn’t in a relationship (that I know of) and should know me well enough to know my views on this matter. Anyway, the conversation ended there and I didn’t get the opportunity to give my opinion. But it really got me to think about why I don’t approve of teenage dating. If you’re a teenager in a relationship right now, it would be very easy to get back on facebook and not take another look at this blog. Before you do that, however, I encourage you to keep reading (I encourage you to keep reading even if you’re not in a relationship) I’m not writing this post to accuse you of doing wrong or convince you not to date, I’m just trying to express my views and hopefully give another side to think about. Now, back to my reasons why. When I first started pondering this, I thought of how it would be super easy for me to be jealous if I wanted to. I mean, most of my friends either have boyfriends or won’t call it that but pretty much have a boyfriend. It would make sense for me to feel left out.
         That thought then, gave way to what I would reply if the subject ever came up again. One of the first reasons that I have is that it’s just a waste of time. How many couples that start dating when they’re fifteen actually get married when they grow up? Not that many. Most teen relationships end within a couple of weeks. The argument to this would be that the point of dating is not to find a spouse. If that is the case, then what is the point? To have fun? Well in my opinion, teen relationships aren’t fun. Sure, there are a few moments of fun and the idea of having a boyfriend (or girlfriend) can be exciting. But since teen relationships are almost destined to end, it’ll only end in heartbreak. The last few days of the relationship will be spent wondering if you should break up or whether or not your boyfriend/girlfriend will break up with you and then when the end finally happens, the result is tragic. Why is this the case? Because with each romantic relationship you’re giving part of your heart away. I don’t know about you, but I want to save my whole heart for one person; the person God wants me to marry. I don’t want to get married and live with any regrets about what I did during the time that I could have been single and waiting for my Prince Charming. I love the way Heather from becomingahopefulromantic.blogspot.com puts it in her blog post “My Fall Will be for You”. Basically, what she says is that if we don’t protect our hearts, we’re going to “fall in love” with so many boys that won’t bother to catch us when we fall. Besides Jesus, there is only one person who will catch me when I fall and never let me go. I want my fall to be for him and only him.
“Well,” you say, “what if my sixteen-year-old boyfriend is the person God wants me to marry and we stay together for the rest of our lives?” Personally, I only want to fall for my “one” when the time is right. Even if I was dating someone now who was the “one”, it’s not like we could get married now. Sure, we could be together for years, but by doing that, we could miss out on opportunities that could have changed our lives if only we had taken them and not been so focused on being together. I only plan on entering a relationship when I know that it’s God’s timing... Not just when I want it so much that I’ve convinced myself that it is his timing but when I know. If what my future husband and l will have is meant to be, then I can wait  for it to become.
What good can come out of dating so young? I was honestly trying to come up with something good that could come out of it but failed. Just something to think about.

Read Heather’s blog post “My Fall Will be for You” at: http://becomingahopefulromantic.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-fall-will-be-for-you.html
It is well worth the read.


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