I’m 17, dating a guy, and I have a question: how can you know when the guy you are dating really loves you?

What a great question…

If they respect you enough to wait

If they want the best for you

If they are unselfish

If they define intimacy as getting to know who you are on the inside

If they love God more than the relationship

If they exhibit self-control with their actions and words

If they honor you and God and invite him into the relationship

That’s a great foundation to build love on . . .

Here’s what scripture says about love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self.

Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first”,

Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, Doesn’t revel when others grovel

Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, but keeps going to the end.

There are no perfect people, but a lot of girls (and guys) settle for a feeling instead of someone who really cares about them as a person. It’s why I meet a lot of teens who are cynical about relationships. It’s why I meet girls who have decided he-wants-me-because-of-sex-only who are trying to figure out why they feel so bad inside.

I get tired of it, honestly. And it makes me angry that the meaning of love has been so skewed in this culture.

That’s why I love it when someone like you stops to ask such a great question.

Suzie

This post was originally published on RTF in 2006