Breaking off 3-Year Relationship

Denali25

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Im a young adult and I met and started dating this guy while we were both still in High School. That was three years ago. Now he's working on a degree in Political Science at an expensive Private school... while I'm trying to get into the Air Force ROTC and go to a public college for a nursing degree.

Ive been raised in a Christain family and have always been very commited to my faith. My boy-friend however, was not. Though I will say he was raised in a home that is best case scenario for a non-christain family (Singularly married parents who are still in love, Grand-parents visit regularly, Plenty of money, etc).

While my Boy-friend had always had strong morals... It wasn't until a year and a half ago that he became a Christain (A year and a half after we had been dating). His relationship with God has been strained as it is. He doesnt have many positive Christain influences in his life (His roomate is a Pastors son who claims to be a Christain but sleeps around). Though My father has suggested that he get involved with a church around campus several times, BF doesnt seem up to it.

For the last Year and a half our relationship has been long distance due to his being away at college. He comes home every 2-4 weeks for a weekend or so. We usually have fun, but as of the last few months I had been feeling rather taken for granted. I just didnt feel he was taking care to treat me special (Which is really strange since everyone has always noted that he treats me like an absolute Princess). My parents suggested that I tell him that "If I don't feel like you're getting on the ball and making the necessary changes, we might need to break up".

Keep in mind that in 3 years we have only had about 2 fights, both of them very short lived and handled very maturely. Anyways, he assured me that his feelings hadn't changed and that he would work on proving it to me right away. This was all about a month ago.

Since then I have noticed him making changes (Texts in the morning, more effort in engaging in conversation, more well planned out dates, etc). But for some reason I still don't feel right. I think Im getting to the point where I just want to try something new in my life. I have never really dated anyone else before, and Im going away to college soon (God- Willing). I want to date around a little bit (No one in mind). But more than that is this.....

The longer we date the further Marriage seems to be getting away. We haven't had sex and we don't even really make out (No this has not been easy). Being in a relationship this serious this young has put some unnecessary stress on me at least. It wouldnt be bad at all if I were 25 and at a point in life where it would be practicle to get married. But Im not. We need at least 2.5 more years. I strongly believe God created us to be sexual being and that there should be a natural physical progression in a relationship.... as it is, our relationship has nowhere to go.

Anyways, I think its time for a change. Ive prayed about this alot for a long time. My whole family and a couple of my friends think this is the right decision.... but how to go about it?

See if I had it my way, we'd be at a point where we could get married... Id have already had some time to date around... we'd both know where we were going in life. But thats not gonna happen. Im reluctant to say ggodbye to BF forever, but I also want to be fair to him.

Here's my question.......

Would it be fair to tell him the truth about everything Ive been feeling and then ask him if we could become friends instead of BF/GF? That would mean we could still call eachother occasionally, talk when we see eachother at social functions (We are both in our two best friends's wedding), and all that stuff. But also be seeing other people and keeping to ourselves for the most part. I'd also like to tell him that "I hope someday If we both find we can't live without one-another and that we are at a point in our lives when we are ready for the next step, then we can come together again and see where God leads us" (Or at least something like this)

I really do love this young man. Truly...... But there are some issues in our relationship and our personal lives (He needs to grow up a little spiritually.... I dont mean that in a condescending way). I would love it if our paths crossed romantically again someday. But I also want to guard his heart and I dont want him being emotionally abused if he's waiting around hoping we'll get back together and then I go find some other guy, or I just flat out decide that my BF and I arent meant for eachother.

Input anyone? Feel free to ask details on anything. I know there is alot I didnt cover.
 

Melethiel

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1. What is the benefit of dating around?
2. Is wanting a change really a legitimate reason to break off a serious relationship?
3. Trust me, if you really, truly love someone, you're willing to wait as long as necessary to get married. (I'm kind of in your shoes here - in a serious, long-distance relationship where there's simply no way for us to marry for another 5 years)
 
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Denali25

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Thanks for your input. May I ask how long you have been dating so far? As far as dating around I just don't want to end up marrying before Ive seen what its like to have a relationship with many different guys. I dont want to be married and look back wishing that I had done that before marrying the first guy I was really close to, and maybe secretly resenting him for it.
 
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Luther073082

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I don't suggest being friends. It will only cause him more pain.

Either you break this off cleanly and stay away from eachother or you stay together.

Wanting to see what its like to date other men is a really really bad reason to break up with him. It sounds to me like you are getting a bit of the "seven year itch"

In the end I think you probably should break up with him. But not for any of the reasons you listed. I think you should break up with him because you are not truely in love with him. Yes you may care about him, and love him as another person. But you are not in love with him romantically speaking.

I'm fairly unsure of what you mean by growing up spritually. Perhaps you could get him going to church, at least with you. But considering that he is not bothered by avoiding pre-marital sex and pretty much all physically intimate situations it seems as though he's probably a little more spiritually grown up then you might think. And if you think guys like that are a dime a dozen in the adult world, then I think you will find out you are dead wrong.

As with you not feeling like a princess all the time. You are not always going to feel like that. If you expect to then you will end up breaking up with every guy. Making a girl feel like a princess takes a lot of time and effort. Its a courting technique that is done at the beginning of a relationship. But its not something that can realistically be maintained day in and out through the length of a long relationship.

On top of this you seem a bit afraid of committment and you don't want to be tied down with him. You want to be free to run around and date. And thats fine if you can admit that. But don't try to keep him around as a friend. Thats not loving to him and his feelings.

I'll be perfectly honest I think more of the problems in this relationships lie with you then with him. If you want to break up with him because you don't want to commit and you want to date around. I personally think they are a bit shallow reasons, but thats your choice and perhaps its for the best. But don't try to pin this on him.
 
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twins15

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Would it be fair to tell him the truth about everything Ive been feeling and then ask him if we could become friends instead of BF/GF?

No. This will definitely just make things much harder, and make the healing process go much more slowly. It is very difficult to go from viewing the relationship in a romantic point of view to being just friends. As someone who has been in a similar position (as the bf), that separation of feelings is just about impossible, especially right away. You might think it's being nice by being just friends, and he might even agree to it (because he loves talking to you, etc and it is hard to just stop that) but it will torture him inside, even if he won't admit it.
 
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ImperialPhantom

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Yeah sorry, but you two will never be 'just friends'. One of the two of you, most definitely him, will have those feelings there. You're obviously emotionally checked out, but that doesn't mean he is. And obviously, since he's trying to change for you, he isn't.

And you have no better reason to dump him than that you want to 'date many different guys' and that you 'want to be treated like a princess'. Let me field those in order.

First part. So say you do that, and it turns out, you can't find a better guy than him. You sound like you would assume his return. Well, count that completely out, cuz it would most likely not happen. You honestly come off as taking him for granted, not the other way around. As for the whole first guy thing, heck, my wife married her first boyfriend and she's quite enjoying being my wife. If you marry him and then 'resent' him because of all these guys you could have dated, that's on you.

Second, you mentioned Air Force ROTC. As an Airman myself, I strongly suggest you ditch it and head straight for Lackland. Guaranteed you'll be more appreciative of what you have after BMT. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
 
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Guy Incognito

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I agree with Imperial Phantom. Seems like you just don't appreciate him. I think he can do a lot better. Sounds like he dodged quite a bullet matrix style.

Homes, I gotta say in the nicest way (especially if you didn't mean it as more than a joke), but that's a mean thing to say, especially as you don't know her.

Now, I gotta admit, these dudes have brought up some well argued points Denali25, and I gotta side with them on the friend thing.

Couple years back, I fell *really* hard for this girl named Em, she became a huge part of my life at the time. She treated me great, she was an excellent friend, and she helped bring me back to God. 9 months after we told each other that we liked each other (ie: being best friends who had feelings for each other), and we started dating.

To make a long diatribe short, I fell in love with her, and two weeks before our 'two year', she broke up with me, as "it wasn't there for her anymore". Now what I should have done is walked away, and not talked to her for awhile, but what I did was stayed there, and thrust myself right back into the role of the friend/best friend. Doing this made it much harder and take longer to move on/get over her, and made it hurt so much more when she started turning her back on God.

The point I'm trying to make is, if you end this, do it in the nicest yet clearest way possible, and for his sake, don't try being his friend, at least for awhile. You guys may be able to be friends again some day, but (if you do end it) for now, seperation would be best for both of you, as it would make the pain and heartache easier to deal with in the long run.

I hope you keep praying on this, and some of the advice/comments people have left you here homie, until you feel you're making the decision that God wants you to:)

God bless homie :)
 
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JCFantasy23

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It sounds to me like you're just not in love with him anymore, even if you care about him. No, the friendship thing working is unlikely. I'm not down on you for your desire to date around though. I think you're young, restless, and want to experiment before settling down for life. There's nothing wrong with that, I believe most SHOULD date a few different sorts to be sure of what they really want for marriage. The princess thing...well, most women get upset when it's not happening but it's something we all have to accept. It sucks but it is what it is. Best of luck with you and your boyfriend, you both sound like good people to me.
 
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h3sean

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I think that you should pray about it and then talk with him. A relationship isn't something that should be taken as lightly as that. It will hurt and it will change the course of your lives. Think this through before choosing which decision to make. And I suggest you involve him in your decision.
 
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Holygeneral79

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When I first started reading your post I thought this was going to be about your boyfriend not being committed to God enough and conflict between you two because of it. But after reading the whole thing, it is clear that you're just not interested or in love with him anymore. You just want something new. It might be stereotypical to say this, but it's usually guys who through this phase more than girls (big time assumption), but in this case it's you the one who wants change. I've dated around here and there until I got into my current serious relationship, which will soon proceed into marriage, and I've come to the conclusion that dating around is kinda of a waste of time. What really matters is that you find that one person that God chose for you; not the other way around you looking for the right guy. You might think dating around is the way to do it but it's not. When you least expect it and when you're really close to God by being obedient He'll tell you who your husband is going to be. However, I do understand your wanting to experience different people in relationships; we all yearn for that "something new" inside of us. But that something new should come from God, not human feelings.
If your boyfriend is trying to change you should honor that and not rely on your immediate emotions so much, and be patient; but it might be something hard for your age. I say, put more time in doing God's work rather than keeping a frequent emotional check to see if you're ok. Because our emotions should never be the standard to measure whether we are doing ok or not. It is really unreliable.
 
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DCHSKNIGHT

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I was lied to by my girlfriend. She went to her best friend instead of including me in the converstation and she just left.

As a man that cuts us so deeply. Be fair to your man and tell him exactly how you feel. If he cant be a big boy about it that is his issue not yours.

I know that I would be honest to my girl and I would expect it from her.

Now about not being in love anymore. What a load of bull fecal matter. Love is more then just a feeling that you fall in or out of. If you got married right this second, there will be days when you wake up next to that man and hate his guts. It is life, what makes you good woman, a good wife is to love him any way. Christ loved us when we whored our selves out constantly and with out shame.

I would personally say, get out of that relationship and learn what love really means. I would learn what it means to us men and what it means to you as a woman.

Learn this.... Love is truth. Love will always be truth no matter if you feel like it or not. Christ loved us when he did not have to. He still loves us even though we murder each other, Slaughter the unborn, Abandon the elderly and helpless, and shout profanities in his face and slap his hand away. He will always be love. He will always be truth. Learn to love like that, learn to love when it is hard to love. Learn to love, even when you don't want to.

Then you will be a good lover, A good wife, and a good daughter of the King.

And as a side note in case you were wondering, I am still learning this. It is not easy. But then again, nothing worth doing was ever easy anyway.
 
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lifetheuniverse

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It sounds like to me you want to be friends with [emotional] benefits with this young guy while you date and consider other people as potential sexual partners haha. Don't try to spiritualize your desire to experiment with other relationships. This is a natural temptation in your twenties and most of your peers are doing this anyways.

He seems like a fine young man with a sense of duty and honor and it appears he is making more of an effort to romance you despite the drawbacks of the chaste relationship then you are putting effort into him making him feel respected and loved. You aren't planning texts or dates and yet have the temerity to put it all on him. Of course your bored- your doing nothing to further the relationship yourself. Your passivity by the way will result in all future relationships becoming 'boring' too.

Relationships start in the 'honeymoon' stage then it evolves and becomes the 'bonding' stage where the hormones, butterflies, and rainbows die away. All you are left with is each other and the potential of boredom if you both aren't creative. This will happen in all relationships! What will not happen is finding a decent guy like this who was willing to love you, and pursue you despite not having any sexual or reciprocal interest at all. That's VERY spiritual and more real down-to-earth spirituality then church attendance, psalm singing, and talking about the latest holy subject.

He deserves better. The question is- is it you that are going to become better to deserve a decent guy like this or is it going to be someone else?
 
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