When it comes to making decisions about dating, it's important to consider what God sees as the purpose. For some, it may be a time when two people date with the intention of marriage, but it could also be a lesson to be learned or a friendship. It's essential to recognize this, as many can fall into the trap of believing that the person they're dating should and can only be their spouse. The ultimate goal and hope, of course, is marriage, but not all relationships are meant to end in marriage. Some relationships are meant to promote character growth, teach a lesson, or last for a season.
The ultimate hope and intention for a dating relationship should be marriage. Marriage is the second most important relationship one will have, with the most important being with God. With this in mind, the forerunner of dating must receive considerable consideration, care and respect. Modern dating assumes that what we do and who we date as adults is entirely up to us and is private (our family or church has no formal or practical authority). This can lead some single Christians to despair and date someone out of pressure to get married, often just to have sex within the confines of marriage.
Although these Christians may still date with the intention of finding someone to marry, there is still a chance that they will remain single for part or all of their lives.
