The Dating ManifestoSample

Good Gifts

We’re often encouraged to be grateful for what we have, but don’t forget to be thankful for what you don’t have, too. Thank God for the “nothing” (lacking a significant other) that is a blessing in disguise. Someday you’ll see God’s grace in it all.

In the meantime, remember that God’s eager to give you good gifts, too (see Matt. 7:9-11).

It’s true that many of us are not where we’d hoped to be in terms of marriage. We’re feeling cheated and left behind. Our own mistakes and missteps aside, the generations of cultural sin before us have plopped us in a relational landscape that is confused, fickle and increasingly fragmented.

The fact that anyone still gets married is a miracle. Similar to terms “God” and “faith,” a common understanding of the word “marriage” can no longer be assumed.

We have to cling to what we know from God’s Word. We have to choose to uphold marriage even before our own is established. We must fight for purity, fidelity, and the courage to love others boldly.

This must be done even as we wait.

I never wanted to be the poster child for singleness. I certainly never asked for it. But with thousands of single young adults who look to me as an example for weathering — no, conquering — an extended season of singleness with grace and dignity, it’s where I am.

I called my mom a couple of weekends ago, and she asked what I was up to. “Well, I just finished an hour-long radio interview.”

“On what topic?”

“Singleness.”

“Oh, for Pete’s sake! Are you still on that topic? You need to find some lonely man to marry you so you can move on.”

Haha. I’d love to, Mom. And I pray to that end. And you know what? As long as I’m alive, there’s still hope of it happening. But thank God I’ve learned that I’m OK right where I am, too. I’m not “less” because I’m single. I’m not incomplete. I’m not forgotten, judged or living under a death sentence. I’m a redeemed and chosen child of God, and he’s got good — no, great — things planned for me if I choose to maximize the season I’m in regardless of what the future holds.

So that’s what I’ll do.

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