Happily Ever After: Devotions from Time of GraceSample

When You’re Dating: You Are Not Your Own

The magnificent victory that Christ won on his cross was not only for the purpose of liberating us from our worst nightmares--sin’s guilt and power, the grave, damnation in hell. Christ Jesus set us free, but not to wander on our own. He set us free so that he could then claim us as his own.

He desires nothing less than to remake us in his image: to think holy thoughts, love him and other people, and find joy in being of service to his grand agenda. St. Paul wrote, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19,20).

The best advice that Christian parents can give their teenagers about going out on dates is to remember at all times who they are. They are not sovereign and independent agents. They are not their own. They are connected to a family. And they are loved and claimed by the Savior who died so that they could live.