Datin
The
By Paul Ahnert
P
enelope grew up in a
Christian home where
dating was forbidden
until the age of eighteen. Penelope was permitted to court at sixteen, but one
on one dating was out of the
question. At eighteen, Penelope began to date, but exercised poor judgment, proving
that having a birthday does not
necessarily grant the wisdom
and maturity needed in relationships.
Parents have a
responsibility to train up their
children in the way they should
go and questions about dating
and courting should be made
on an individual basis for each
child. Penelope was protected
by God, but many others do
not fare as well.
DATING AND MARRIAGE IN
OUR MODERN TIMES
A Parents
Imp
development are now the main
f ocus of many young people, as
well as their parents, and marDetermining if or when children riage becomes something “for
should begin dating is not an later,” when everything else is
easy task for most parents. The in place. Sadly, many young
short, easy answer for “When couples move from dating to comay I start dating?” is “Never!” habitation and marriage without
Though this seems simplistic ever even considering marriage.
and narrow, rationally, one must
ask the real question: What good God gave us a desire for comcan come of sending a hormone panionship,
Matthew_19:5,
fueled teen off to be alone with ‘Therefore a man shall leave
another hormone enriched teen his father and his mother and
of the opposite sex?
Dating, hold fast to his wife, and the two
as it is practiced today, is a rel- shall become one flesh?’ God’s
atively new societal concept. design is that we marry and proIn years past, marriages were create. Genesis_1:28, ‘And God
either arranged or men courted blessed them. And God said to
women in order to woo them them, “Be fruitful and multiply
into matrimony. The ultimate and fill the earth and subdue it,
goal was the same, marriage. In and have dominion over the fish
modern times, marriage is not of the sea and over the birds of
expected nor encouraged at a the heavens and over every living
young age. College and career thing that moves on the earth.”
“The law recognizes that teenagers are not
yet equipped to make certain decisions, not
because they are inherently ignorant or foolish, but because they lack the life experience.
Why then, does society believe teenagers are
equipped to handle decisions about sexual
behavior that can lead to far more life changing
consequences than say, piercing an ear, which
requires parental consent?”