“Singleness is for devotion; dating is for evaluation.” Pastor Ben Stuart continues our series on relationships this week with a message about dating. It is not a status we sit in — it is a process we walk through! Dating exists for the purpose of evaluating whether or not you are supposed to run alongside a person for the rest of your life. In the process of evaluation, Pastor Ben challenges us to consider how we view dating: do we look at it with a consumer mentality or a companion mentality?
Like a sailor on turbulent seas, we need to look up and see the North Star: the fixed points in the sky whereby we might navigate the objective realities in life. We need the skill-set to know how to journey through life and how to select the right people to journey alongside. In this book we will chart a course through the four relational phases that the vast majority of human beings on the planet will pass through in their twenties: singleness, dating, engaged and married. In each of these phases, we will look at what eternal purposes should be pursued in each stage, and how to pursue them.
SINGLENESS: DEVOTION
DATING: EVALUATION
ENGAGED: UNIFICATION
MARRIED: MISSION