How to Keep Impatience from Robbing You of the Gift of Singleness

1. The Right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing.
2. You don't need to shop for what you can't afford. - The Joy of intimacy is the reward of commitment 3. Any season of singleness is a gift from God.

How to get on the road of righteousness
1. Respect the deep signifcance of physical intimacy
2. Set your standards too high.
3. Make the purity of others a priority.

5 Important steps for getting on track with God's plan
1. Start with a clean slate
2. Make Your Parents your teammates
3. Establish clear guidelines
4. Check to see who's whispering in your ear.
5. Season Your convction with humility

The Abuse of Harmless Thing - Not to forget the boundaries of guy-girl friendship
1. Understand the Difference between Friendship and Intimacy.
2. Be Inclusive, not exclusive
3. Make a Priority of Same-Sex Frienships
4. Seek Opportunities to serve, not to be entertained. Infatuation, Lust Self-Pity =Guard Your Heart.

 Practice Now!

Glimpses of True Character
How a Person Relates to God
How a Person Relates to Others
Personal Discipline

The Impact of Attitude
An Attitude of willing obedience to God
An Attitude of Humility
An Attitude of Industriousness
An Attitude of Contentment and Hopefulness

Principles that can guide you from friendship to Matrimony
1. Casual Friendship - Talking to myself
E.g.
"Josh, what's your relationship to this girl?"
"She's a sister in Christ whom I'm instructed to treat with absolute purity."
"Exactly! She's not just a pretty face or a potential wife!"
 "No, she's a child of God. God has a plan for her. He's shaping her and molding her into something speical."
"So what is your responsibility to her?"
"My responsibility is to make sure I don't get in the way of what God is doing. I should encourage her to keep her focus and dependence on God."
"Okay, good. Now to whom is your second responsibility?"
"My Second Responsibility is to the people around me." "Such as...?"
"Such as the people in the church group, non-Christians who might observe our relationship, and even my little brothers, who watch how I relate to girls."
 "Why do you have to care whay they think?"
 "I have a responsibility to keep the unity of the group here at church; I have a responsibility to model the love of Jesus to outsiders; and I have a responsibility to set an example for other believers." "And your primary responsibility is to God, correct?"
 "Exactly, I am responsible to keep my way pure, serve others as Christ did, and love my neighbors as I love myself."

2. Deep friendship Friendship - Deepening Activities, Things to avoid, Watch, Wait and Pray before Moving Past Frienship Question to ask, Green Light: God's Word, You're Ready for Marriage, The Approval and Support of Your parents (or Guardians, Christian Mentors, and Godly Christian Friends), God's Peace
3. Courtship: Purposeful Intimacy with Integrity. - Honor Her Parents, Put Yourself on Trial, Test and Build the Relationship in Real-life Settings, Bringing Romance Home
4. Engagement - Reserve Passion for Marriage, Focus on the Soul, Guided by the Holy Spirit

Five Attitude Changes to Help you Avoid Defective Dating

1. Every Relationship is an opportunity to model Christ's love.

2. My Umarried Years are a gift from God.

3. I don't need to pursue a romantic relationship before I'm ready for marriage

4. I cannont "Own" someone outside of Marriage

5. I will avoid situations that could compromise the purity of my body or mind.

From: I Kissed Dating Goodbye, Joshua Harris

Christ's Victory over Our Body

There is not much in this world that looks, acts, and talks in the same manner that humans do. When we think about animals in the animal kingdom, humans are often left out. Whereas many animals walk on four legs, we walk on two. Whereas many animals were gifted with sharp teeth, wings, or fins, we were given a brilliant mind.

Even monkeys, who most closely resemble humans, are somehow very different from us. Or perhaps another way to consider this is that we are different from animals. We are not on the same level as all the rest of creation. Why is that? Because we were designed to take after God.

God gave us bodies for a purpose. He could have given us just spirits, and then we would exist in some ethereal reality. However, God saw fit to give us a body that was tangible, and He declared that good. Gregg Allison says, "Human beings are called to salvation through Christ, and they are not just 'souls to be saved;' the human body is included in this divine work. Thankfully, 'the Lord is for the body' (1 Cor. 6:13) in that His completed work of salvation will include the bodily resurrection."

This should prompt us to declare victory over our body, just as we would declare victory over the world. Whether spiritual, mental, emotional, or physical, there is no area or sphere of our life that we should ever be afraid to declare victory in. As we have been called to be good stewards of our faith, money and time, we have also been called to be good stewards of our bodies.

Living Life