I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris

potential as a man right now, to be thankful for that, and to enjoy it to the fullest. I have a feeling that a single person who is always wishing he were married will probably get married, discover all that is involved, and wish he were single again. He will ask himself, "Why didn't I use that time, when I didn't have so many other obligations, to serve the Lord? Why didn't I give myself totally to Him then?"'" Instead of rushing foolishly into a marriage because of impatience or one day reviewing our season of singleness with regret, let's commit to using our singleness to its fullest potential. Singleness is a gift. Let's rejoice in it and enjoy its opportunities today. Let's practice trusting God by pursuing His kingdom and His righteousness with all our hearts and by leaving the planning to Him.
    In this life we will not understand all He does. But we know in the end, His perfect timing will be revealed. In a poem titled "Sometime," May Riley
    Smith beautifully expresses the perspective of heaven we will one day possess:
    Sometime, when all life's lessons have been learned,
    And sun and stars forevermore have set,
    The things which our weak judgments here have spumed,
    The things o'er which we grieved with lashes wet, Will flash before us out of life's dark night,
    As stars shine most in deeper tints of blue;
    53 And we shall see how all Gods plans are right,
    And how what seemed reproof was love most true.
    the right thing at the wrong time... 85 Then be content poor heart;
    God's plans, like lilies pure and white, unfold;
    we must not tear the close-shut leaves apart,-- Time will reveal the chalices of gold.
    And if, through patient toil, we reach the land Where tired feet, with sandals loosed, may rest,
    When we shall clearly see and understand, I think that we will say, "God knew the best!"
    Do you believe that God knows best? Then place your life's calendar at His feet and allow Him to handle the scheduling of your relationships. Trust Him even if it means not dating when other people think you should. When God knows you're ready for the responsibility of commitment, He'll reveal the right person under the right circumstances.
    "For I know the plans I have for you," God says matter-offactly, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" Qeremiah 29:11-13). Let's live our tds for His kingdom and entrust our tms to His providence. We couldn't lay our futures in better hands. All we have to do is trust.
    chapter Six
    How to get on the road to righteousness While in high school I attended a weekend church retreat in which we discussed the topic of sexual purity. During one session our pastor asked all of us students to anonymously fill out survey cards that would let him know "how far" kids in the group had gone physically. He provided a rough scale for us to use, assigning numbers to levels of physical intimacy based on their seriousness. The activities ranged from light kissing at number one to sexual intercourse at number ten. Our pastor asked us to write down the highest number we had reached.
    After dropping my card into a basket, I filed out of the classroom with two friends. I'll never forget the ensuing conversation. One of my buddies looked over at the other and said with a wink, "So how high did you score, man?"
    Laughing, my other friend said he had reached eight, almost nine. Then these two guys proceeded to name the particular girls in the youth group with whom they had reached certain numbers.
    joshua harris flirting with darkness
    My two friends exemplify how clouded our understanding of purity has become these days. We esteem purity too little and desire it too late. Even when we try to assert its importance, we render our words meaningless by our contradictory actions.
    Do we desire purity in our relationships? We say we do. But do we live the kind of lives that foster this purity? Unfortunately, not often enough. "Make me chaste," prayed Augustine, "but not yet." Like