25 Bible Verses That Answer The Question "How Far Is Too Far" For Christians Who Are Dating To Get Married
There are boundaries.
pexels It seems the question of how far is too far when it comes to dating is coming from an immoral Catholic mindset.
You’re pretty much asking how far can I go until I make a sin.
Really the mindset shouldn’t be on how much gratification you can get before you commit to this person for the rest of your life.
Changing your perspective into one of looking out to your partner will lead to you both being more connected with your faith.
Asking “How can I give my partner a pious happy life?” That generally speaks true for not just dating but really any relationship with friends or family.
Changing that question leads you away from the hedonistic belief that your purpose in life is to get all the pleasure you can, then die.
That hedonistic belief is antithetical to a lot of the core teachings in Christian doctrine because it rejects doing altruism for others.
That being said, a good question to ask to counter “how far you should go?” is what would be acceptable if your grandma was watching you guys.
The narrative in Catholic and many religious circles is that things such as sex are a meaningful act that should only be shared with someone that you commit your whole life to.
The idea of sex being meaningful is confirmed with the idea in biology known as pair bonding.
To quickly summarize, when you date more and more partners especially in women it becomes a lot tougher to form meaningful relationships.
When people do multiple one night stands or hookups the brain forms a new synaptic map of one-night –stands.
Once that map is made it requires more effort to reverse it in the future when you want to settle down.
If you need more persuasion than the Bible is always a good tool.
Here are 25 Bible verses taken from the World English Bible, about the purpose of dating, as a Christian or Catholic.
1. Proverbs 13:20
“Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.”
2. Corinthians 7:3-4
“The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.”
3. Hebrews 13:4
“Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.”
4. Mark 7:21-22
“For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.”
5. Proverbs 5:18-19
“Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love.”
6. Corinthians 7:2
“But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.”
7. Matthew 5:28
“But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
8. Genesis 2:24
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”
9. Corinthians 7:5
"Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control."
10. Genesis 1:27–28
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.”
11. Genesis 2:18
“That’s true, but it isn’t the end of the story – it isn’t even the start of the story! In fact, the first thing that God says about a human being in the Book of Genesis is that: “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
12. Corinthians 7:7
“I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.”
13. Song of Solomon 1:2
“Kiss me and kiss me again, for your love is sweeter than wine.”
14. Genesis 2:25
“Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.”
15. Ephesians 5:3
“But among you, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.”
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16. Ephesians 5:33
“However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”
17. Galatians 5:19
“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery.”
18. Genesis 2:24
“That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.”
19. Hebrews 13:4
“Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.”
20. Corinthians 6:9
“Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men”
21. John 1:9
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
22. Matthew 5:28
“But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
23. Corinthians 6:13-20
“13 You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
14 By his power, God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!
16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.
19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
24. Song of Songs 7:6-12
“6 How beautiful you are and how pleasing, my love, with your delights! 7 Your stature is like that of the palm, and your breasts like clusters of fruit. 8 I said, “I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of its fruit.” May your breasts be like clusters of grapes on the vine, the fragrance of your breath like apples,
9 and your mouth like the best wine. May the wine go straight to my beloved, flowing gently over lips and teeth. 10 I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me. 11 Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside, let us spend the night in the villages.
12 Let us go early to the vineyards to see if the vines have budded if their blossoms have opened, and if the pomegranates are in bloom— there I will give you my love”
25. Corinthians 13:4-8
“4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.”
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Steven Hall is a writer who covers astrology, pop culture, and relationship topics.