Between Friends

Our Creator is the Author of love and marriage. He created the first man and woman and performed the very first wedding. God designed us with a longing desire for relationships. Have you made Him the center of your life and relationships, or have you given Him a backseat?

If you’re tired of shallow and cheap relationships that don’t last and leave you emotionally drained, then there’s good news for you. Your Creator, the Inventor of love, wishes to script a happy and lasting love story for you, but first, you must hand over to Him the pen of your life. He says to you, “My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways” (Proverbs 23:26). When we give our heart and life over to God and keep His commandments, He will lead us to the right life mate.

Are you ready to let go of “your right” to make your own decisions about relationships? God has a vision for your relationship that will take your breath away. His plan of building a happy and lasting courtship and marriage is infinitely superior to the world’s pattern. He says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8, 9).

Maybe you’re thinking, “Could God really find the right partner for me without my brilliant input?” Perhaps you’ve been worried, “What if I never meet the right girl or guy? And if I do meet them, how will I know that he/she is the one? What if I marry the wrong person and ruin my whole life?” God is asking you to hand over to Him all these fears. He says to you, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is there anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27).

This issue of the Youth Messenger is the first of three that deals with the topic of courtship and preparation for marriage. In this magazine,

you will discover how to get ready for courtship

you will learn when is the right time to begin courtship

you will be amazed to learn how God led different couples as they waited for His timing.

You will also read thought-provoking, but honest questions that our young people from North America and Australia have asked about the subject. You will be educated and encouraged by the wise and practical answers given by our team of pastors. Happy reading! Happy learning! Happy courtship as you let God begin to write your love story!

—Liliane Balbach