Stages of Christian Dating

Christian dating can be fun and exciting even though there are more restrictions to adhere to. The main restriction involves avoiding a sexual relationship but most everything else is the same. There are several stages of Christian dating that you’ll go through and each one of the stages helps you to get to know the person better, so you can determine exactly what your feelings for them are.

Each stage is just as important as the other in a Christian relationship. If you skip any of the steps, you may find out later that you don’t feel the way you thought you did for the person. Once you have entered into marriage, it’s too late to come to this conclusion, which is why it’s important to follow certain rules when Christian dating.

Companionship Stage

Christian dating should begin with the friendship or companionship stage, which is the beginning of all lasting relationships. This is where you get to know each other better as friends. This is when you should go on double dates until you get to know each other better and then you can venture out and spend some time alone to learn more about each other.

This is also the stage in which you determine if you’re really attracted to the person or not. If you’re not attracted to each other, then it would be difficult to pursue the relationship much further. Being attracted to each other is a natural instinct. It’s nothing wrong with feeling this way towards someone you’re dating and the attraction stage begins as a fantasy. You may imagine what it would be like to date this person or maybe one day to be married to them.

During this stage, take time to talk to each other about your beliefs and goals in life. Discuss your plans for a career, where you want to live, talk about your hobbies and things you like and dislike. The companionship stage usually lasts for about three to six months and at the end of this time if you both still have an interest in each other, it’s time to move on to the next stage.

Confirmation Stage

The confirmation stage occurs when both of you agree that you want to pursue the relationship to see where it goes from here. During the first stage, you’ve more than likely spent a lot of time alone getting to know each other.

Now that you have decided to move the relationship to the next level, it’s time to spend more time with friends and family. That may sound a little strange to many people. Most couples think that once you decide to pursue the relationship that you need to spend more time alone and that’s where problems arise.

One of the biggest problems is that it puts you in a situation that makes it difficult to avoid the temptation of adding sex to your relationship. Emotions can be overwhelming because you already agreed to move the relationship to the next level. You may even feel like you love each other and you couldn’t imagine not spending the rest of your life together. For these reasons, when you put yourself in a situation where you’re alone too much, you may be tempted to break the rules that go alone with Christian dating.

Another reason that you should spend time with others during this stage is because it’s important to see how your relationship holds up in a social environment. When your connection with others is a good one, it helps to strengthen your relationship with each other. You will begin to see your partner’s real character, which means you will see what they are truly like when you’re around other people. You will meet and get to know his or her friends and family.

There will be some things that you really like and some things that you won’t like at all about your date. This is the time when you need to be focusing on these issues so you can decide whether or not you still feel the same way about your date once you see their true personality.

This is also another good reason why you should wait before adding sex to your relationship. You may realize that you’re not comfortable with this person in a social environment. You may discover personality traits that you can’t handle and you may need to end the relationship at this point. This stage usually last between six and twelve months and if you are truly right for each other, this will draw you closer together and you’ll be ready to move on to the next stage.

Engagement Stage

The next stage of Christian dating is the engagement stage. You reach this stage once you have decide you are happy with the person you’re dating and that this is someone you do want to marry and spend the rest of your life with. You’ve been together long enough that you should know a lot about the other person. You’ll know their good and bad points and they’ll know yours.

You will have met each other’s families and friends and you should know just about everything there is to know about him or her. Once you’ve reached the engagement stage you have already decided that you are right for each other so there is no real need to prolong this stage for very long. Two or three months is plenty of time unless you’re planning on a big wedding and you need time to work all of the arrangements out or you have your heart set on getting married during a certain time of the year.

After the engagement stage, comes marriage. This is when you take that final step and say your vows. If you have any doubt in your mind that this is not the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, you don’t want to get married. Once the vows have been said and you are joined together in holy matrimony and your marriage has been blessed, there are no longer any restrictions in your relationship.

This is an outline of the stages of Christian dating. It will vary for every couple but it gives you an idea of how the Christian relationship should progress. It will help you learn how to establish a healthy and long-lasting relationship with your Christian partner.