xXxMinniExXx said:
hey im a 15 year old christian teen. ive never had a boyfriend before, mainly cos im not allowed one. but recently a boy in my school has asked me out and i also really like him..but im not sure if i should go behind my parents back and go out with him. would God be upset with me?
I think you KNOW the answer to your question. We don't always LIKE the answer...
The whole b/f, g/f thing is powerful in our culture. When I was like 13 or 14, there were lots of girls in my life. I'm not proud of this (not at all), but it was - I can see now - pretty selfish. It was about having fun. The fact that the girls were equally interested makes it no less selfish. And sometimes - a lot of times - it's more about our peers than ourselves, more about self than the other...
I don't want to sound like some adult here, I'm not much older than you, and I've been in a pretty serious relationship for about a year now, and some would consider me too young for such - and I think for a LOT of 18 years olds, that would be true (the love of my life is 20 BTW).
And I think this is a highly individual thing - people mature at very different rates. I'm against those finite universal rules like "no dating before 16." I can think of some 30 year olds not mature enough to date!
But I think that for MOST 12-16 year olds, "dating" is okay as long as it's not "going together" (yeah, I know, they are almost the same thing among most teens), not "solo" and kept social and fun. In group settings. The "solo" stuff I did (yeah, behind my parents back) is stuff I mostly regret now. It's too bad this social and fun aspect of teen girl/guy relationships is mostly gone now. It think schools and churches could do a better job of supplying such situations.
IF you really like this guy (and aren't just using him to explore relationships, love and maybe more; not using him to improve your self-esteem or peer-esteem; not using him to make a statement to your parents), then okay. But make it a GROUP, social, fun thing. Maybe even invite him to join your family in some family fun thing. This will not only take a lot of pressure off of you two, keep the focus on fun and getting to know each other, but it will also releave your parents.
Relationships are SERIOUS stuff. It requires a LOT (geeze, a LOT) of maturity. A strong sense of agape. A lot of humility, a lot of giving, a lot of listening, a LOT of vunerablity, a LOT of "other-centeredness." Don't rush in too quickly...
MY $0.01...
Hugs!
- Josiah
.