Dating & The Single Mom: By Jennifer MaggioSample

Am I healthy enough to date?

Proverbs 31:11 teaches us that a Proverbs 31 woman will greatly enrich her husband’s life. Enrich means to “add to.” It is critical we move into our dating life ready to “add to” a future spouse’s life, not simply limping through unhealthy, broken, and unhealed. How do you know when you are healthy? While not an exhaustive list, here are a few things to consider to gauge your overall health.

• You are 100% okay with being alone. While you may have the desire to move into a healthy marriage, you trust the Lord to bring you the right partner in the right season. And even if He didn’t, you’d still trust the Lord. That’s when you know you are content in your season.
• You don’t think about your ex. Healthy, healed people don’t rehash what an ex-partner did or said. They don’t replay the hurt. They don’t need validation by talking about it too much. A key indicator that you have healed from an old relationship is when you don’t think about him. You’re not angry, vengeful, or obsessive. If it still bothers you that he’s remarried, moved on, or breathes, you may not have fully healed from the past.
• You aren’t looking for someone to ‘complete’ you. While a husband can certainly add value to your life, no man, however wonderful, can complete you. Christ completes us. We are whole, made well, renewed, transformed, and redeemed in Him. Proverbs 31:11 says, “Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life.” Enrich means to add to. This means you are complete, whole, healthy, and are looking to “add to” someone’s life just as much as they enrich yours.

Being healthy in all areas is important – physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, financially, and parentally.

Points to Ponder:

• Am I healthy? Should I be entertaining dating right now? What steps can I take to become healthy in all areas of my life?