Waiting and Dating by Myles Munroe. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
I tend to take an academic approach to almost everything. How to jump start a car? Read about it first and then call my dad to make sure what I read was right (lolol). How to bake zucchini bread? Read about it first and then watch a YouTube video before baking it. How to handle conflict? Read the Bible and then look at WikiHow and then…ok, you get the point.
Back in 2012, my academic-self was reading up on dating because I thought that I might get married that year. I didn’t get married that year, but BAY-BEEEEE, I was getting my mind right for it, okay?!
This book was REALLY helpful to me. Take a look at the chapter titles: Preparing to Date, Friendship-Building: The Purpose of Dating, Myths of Mate-Finding, Discerning the Right Life Partner, Engagement: Preparing to Marry, and Engagement: Redeeming the Time.
I wasn’t expecting the book to give so much information about working on yourself and growing in your relationship with God BEFORE you even start dating. The things Mr. Munroe wrote were very encouraging and helped me see dating in a different light. I was expecting the book to just give tips on dating and praying about dating, etc. but he REALLY does a great job laying down some Biblical principles regarding relationships and EVEN spends time in one of the engagement chapters teaching about engagement stories from the Old Testament.
He breaks down myths about dating and marriage and reminds readers that God does not choose our life partners. We should seek Him regarding the matter and seek wise counsel from believers we can trust BUT the decision as to whom we spend the rest of our lives with is ours alone. He also spends quite a bit of page space on how to be a good friend (in general and in discerning during friendship if you want to be involved with someone) and the different levels of friendship. The different levels of friendship he describes are acquaintance, casual friendship, close friendship, and intimate friendship.
Here are some quotes I found interesting:
“The primary purpose of dating is to build friendships that help us discern the right life partner.”
“God does not have one and only one special person for us.”
“There are any number of people in the world who are potential mates for us because of similarities in personality, character, values, and interests to our own…If there are any number of ‘suitable’ candidates for us to marry, then marrying one of them becomes a choice that we make…The choice that we make to marry a particular person calls for a firm commitment on our part to be faithful to the one we choose…God does not choose the person He wants to marry.”
If you have been sleepin’ on Myles Muroe, please wake up! If you have never heard of him, please let this be a pleasant introduction! He was a respected preacher and author.
Please check out more of writing wherever you like to get your books and even check out some of his sermons on YouTube.
This post was not sponsored. I just love books, but not reading all that much, so when I read a book that I really enjoy, I want to tell people about it!