1 Timothy 4:12

Hmmm - I don't know where to begin....


Father, you are so worthy. There is no one else like you. LORD, I want to pray for purity to arise in this generation. It is being bombarded by the world and all it really needs is You. Dad, just come...


1Timothy 4:12 "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example of the believers, in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity."


My heart breaks when it comes to this verse. I cannot imagine how God must be feeling.


I had a conversation with a good, Christian friend of mine a week ago. She is struggling with a relationship that she is involved in. She couldn't understand what was going wrong and she asked me for advice. I told her that first of all, the "relationship" (one-on-one knowledge of who each other is as a person) is the most important part of any relationship, but especially in a dating relationship. She said that her relationship with her boyfriend involved a lot of intimacy, but nothing more. I told her that this is a bad thing, first of all, because the intimacy she was thinking of should only be shared in marriage (period), and secondly, a relationship cannot be solely built on intimacy. A serious relationship is meant to be structured after Christ and His Church. I gave her the example of how when we first came to know the LORD, we did not immediately feel intimate with Him, but we focused on building a relationship with Him by talking to Him, listening to Him, and just spending time with Him. Then, once the relationship was built we came to the realization that we are in love with Him and our relationship with the LORD goes even deeper into one of intimacy. This is what happened to me. I have been a Christian since I was five years old, but I didn't truly 'love' the LORD until four years ago. A ten year relationship with someone you don't even love? Imagine that!!! But, anyway, I told her that a lot of marriages even fail for lack of "relationship." A lot of relationships are built on intimacy and those tend to fall. It's sad, but it's the truth. I told her to focus on the relationship and save the intimacy for marriage, because really intimacy is the "icing on the cake" once you are married.


It just saddens me that most "Christians" don't agree with waiting for marriage. A lot of Christians have a worldly mindset when it comes to relationships. They would save themselves a lot of pain and heartache if they only listened to the Word of God.