BE "THE ONE"

So Valentine's Day is coming up and if you're anything like me, you're probably single.... even if you're not keep reading. This message is for you too. I'm a seventeen year old girl, who frequently has her head stuck up in the clouds, thinking about all the "Somedays". I love romance movies & am a big fan of Christian fiction. I am just in love with the idea of being in love. I want to find "the one". I've come to find that this is a dangerous mindset. Why? Because we become so focused on finding that special someone that we forget about ourselves.

I recently listened to a sermon by Andy Stanley. He talked about how he gathered a group of singles to talk with them about the things they were struggling with. One woman's story caught my attention the most. She said she used to go out and spend her nights dancing in clubs and hanging out with friends. Her mom would always try to get her to come back to church and live a Godly life, but she never heeded her mother's words. One day she was sitting in a restaurant with some friends, when this handsome guy joins them. He was a Christian, and was polite, compassionate, and a man of integrity. You could see this by the way that he carried himself. God was definitely living in this man's heart. The woman went home to her mom and said, "Wow, mom, I met this guy and he is just perfect! He is the kind of guy I've always been looking for! He's the one" Her mom just looked at her with a sorrow in her eyes and said, "But honey, you're not the kind of girl he's looking for." The woman collapsed to the ground and began to cry, for she knew her mom's words were nothing but the truth. She wasn't the woman of God that that man would want in a wife.

This is what I'm trying to tell you. We focus so much on looking for "the one" that we forget a very important detail.  Are we "the one" for that significant other? Whether you're single or dating someone, you need to be cultivating a godly spirit in your heart. You need to be constantly growing your relationship with the Lord to become the man or woman of God you are destined to be. One of my favorite quotes goes like this:

"A girl should be so lost in God, that a guy has to seek him to find her."

That works both ways, man or woman, you need to be lost in God. He is your first love. He knows the desires of your heart. Devote your life to him & he will bless you with someone who is better than anyone that you could've found apart from God's love. That is how powerful he is. Awesome right?

            So, I encourage you to dig deep into God's word, because that is what will satisfy.

BUT WAIT! I'M NOT DONE YET!

           As you read earlier, I absolutely love to read. This week I re-re-re-reread "The Christy Miller" series by Robin Jones Gunn. She's an amazing Christian author. In these books the main character is obviously Christy and the love interest is Todd. The books follow Christy through high school, college, and her adult years. Christy first meets Todd when the ocean spits her out on the beach at Todd's feet. Romantic right? Todd is a christian, and they become friends. When you're reading from Christy's point of view she is an extremely insecure, typical, teenage girl. Todd is good for her though. He is the type of guy who challenges Christy to be a better Christian and to follow God's will. But Todd's not as perfect as he seems. Over the years Christy always wants their undefined relationship to be more, but she knows that if anything happens the guy needs to be the initiator. Still, this doesn't calm her frustrations with noncommittal Todd.

          Her theme verse over the books is Solomon 8:4"...Do not stir up or awaken love until it pleases." Christy looks back over the last 5 years of their relationships and is glad that they took things as slow as they did. She realizes that if they had become more involved with each other emotionally and physically (they hardly ever kissed, and when they did it was always in public) that they would have been blinded from many of God's calls on their life. Todd had always wanted to be a missionary. He finally got a chance a year after him and Christy became "official". He was going to give up his call because he didn't want to leave Christy. She forced him to live up to all his big talk and she let him go. She let him go where God had called him to go. She let him go across the world, thousands of miles from Christy. This is an example of what can happen when you start to arouse love. Christy knew that if Todd had stayed they would've been way too emotionally involved with each other at such a young age, when they needed to be focusing on other plans that God had for them.

  The point of all this, is here, whether you're dating someone or you're single it doesn't matter, this message is important for everyone. For one, if you're younger than eighteen there is really no point in dating anyways, you can't get married right? Secondly, if you do date, dating doesn't mean that you have to KISS! You don't need to kiss on the first date, or week, or even year. I'll leave that to your discretion.... but the point is that you don't need to be physical in a dating relationship. That's not what it's about. Dating can simply just be talking, getting to know that person's likes & dislikes, your similarities and differences, and things like that. You might be thinking that sounds more like hanging out with a friend than a boyfriend or girlfriend. Well, who doesn't want to marry their bestfriend? What is better than that? Cultivate a strong heart connection, that's what lasts in a marriage. Most importantly, make sure that God is always at the center. Make choices that will honor Him. Don't arouse love before it's time. One of my favorite things my mom has always told me is that whenever you date someone that's like giving away a piece of your heart. Then when you get married you won't have your whole heart to give to your spouse. How sad is that? So, don't just date to date. Be wise. Save your heart. You're a gift. Whenever you get lonely thinking about "the one", pray to God and ask him to quite those desires in your heart until the time is right. Also, pray for "the one". I've heard so many testimonies where spouses find out that they prayed for their future spouse at a time when they really needed it. It's not silly, pray for them. I even write letters to him. How awesome of a gift would it be to give that to your future spouse when you get marrried, and to be able to tell them that you waited for them. That you saved you're heart for them. That even before you knew them, you prayed for them and were thinking about them. 

 

Save you're heart & remember

BE "THE ONE"!