After asking my fiance to date me, we found ourselves sitting on a bench overlooking the night skyline of Pittsburgh. It was probably about 10 degrees outside, but that didn’t seem to phase us as we were talking alongside a river. We had been great friends before that night, so it was easy to talk for a long time. One of the topics that came up was how to glorify God through our relationship.

Now I had been in a few relationships before this point and thought I knew it all when it came to incorporating God into dating. I figured you just made sure you prayed before meals, didn’t do anything stupid and hope for the best (looking back on it that was a really dumb outlook). Even though I thought I had it “figured out” she introduced a concept to me that I will never forget.

The concept involved keeping God at the center. You may thinking to yourself “Chris, what center are you talking about?!” The center I’m talking about is between you and your boyfriend/girlfriend. As a youth director, I am constantly giving advice on dating and use illustrations to get points across. Here’s one that perfectly illustrates what I’m talking about.

Imagine that you are looking from a birds-eye view at a triangle. There are three people at each of the three points - you, your boyfriend/girlfriend and God. It doesn’t make a difference as to who is where, just think of those three people at each of the points. Now I want you to imagine that you and your boyfriend/girlfriend try to get closer and closer but are forgetting about God. This may sound like a great idea (since the distance between the two of you gets shorter), but in reality you’re pushing yourself away from God. The reason that your pushing yourself away from God is that if you were to go from the point God is to where you are, instead of going down a straight line, you now have to go the straight line and then turn the corner and meet you half-way down the line separating you and your boyfriend/girlfriend. So even though the distance between your relationship with your boyfriend/girlfriend is much shorter, the distance between you and God increases substantially!

In continuing with this illustration, a good Christian couple puts God at the center. Keep the image of the triangle in your head except this time, imagine the boy and the girl getting closer to the point with God at it. With God in the center and the boy and girl getting closer to Him, they (the boy and girl) are also getting closer in the process, which is what every Christian couple should strive for.

Am I saying that my fiance and I have kept God together for the entire time during our relationship? Sadly I must say “no.” We try to look to God in everything, but sometimes we (especially me) feel we can do it ourselves. Fortunately, Jesus came to die on a cross for our sins and promises eternal life. If you have not accepted Christ as your personal savior, think about your life and how you can make it better - I guarantee that looking to Christ will give you a peace like you’ve never had. If you have any questions regarding a personal relationship with Christ, I have included links on the home page (on the right sidebar) that can help you through the process. I pray that everyone reading this post has a serious relationship with Christ and not one that is simply forgotten once church lets out Sunday morning.