Joshua Harris, I Kissed Dating Goodbye

"Intimacy without commitment, like icing without cake, can be sweet, but it ends up making us sick."

"Every relationship for a Christian is an opportunity to love another person like God has loved us."

"Having a girlfriend was no longer my greatest need. Knowing and obeying Him was . I wanted to please Him in my relationships even if it meant looking radical and foolish to other people - even if it meant kissing dating goodbye."

"We want to stay on the straight and narrow path and serve God, yet we continue a practice that often pulls us in the wrong direction."

"...for Christians typical dating can often be a swerver - an approach to relationships that wants to go in a different direction than the one God has for us."

"The joy of intimacy is the reward of commitment."

"True love isn’t just expressed in passionately whispered words oran intimate kiss or an embrace; before two people are married, love isexpressed in self-control, patience, even words left unsaid."

"In the past, the starting point of my relationships was what Iwanted instead of what God wanted. I looked out for my needs andfit others into my agenda. Did I find fulfillment? No, I found onlycompromise and heartache. I not only hurt others; I also hurt myself,and most seriously, I sinned against God."

"A Woman's Question Do you know you have asked for the costliest thing Ever made by the Hand above?A woman's heart, and a woman's life---And a woman's wonderful love. Do you know you have asked for this priceless thing As a child might ask for a toy?Demanding what others have died to win,With a reckless dash of boy. You have written my lesson of duty out,Manlike, you have questioned me. Now stand at the bars of my woman's soul Until I shall question thee. You require your mutton shall always be hot,Your socks and your shirt be whole;I require your heart be true as God's stars And as pure as His heaven your soul. You require a cook for your mutton and beef,I require a far greater thing;A seamstress you're wanting for socks and shirts---I look for a man and a king. A king for the beautiful realm called Home,And a man that his Maker, God,Shall look upon as He did on the first And say: "It is very good."I am fair and young, but the rose may fade From this soft young cheek one day;Will you love me then 'mid the falling leaves,As you did 'mong the blossoms of May?Is your heart an ocean so strong and true,I may launch my all on its tide?A loving woman finds heaven or hell On the day she is made a bride. I require all things that are grand and true,All things that a man should be;If you give this all, I would stake my life To be all you demand of me. If you cannot be this, a laundress and cook You can hire and little to pay;But a woman's heart and a woman's life Are not to be won that way."

"The world takes us to a silver screen on which flickering images of passion and romance play, and as we watch, the world says, “This is love.” God takes us to the foot of a tree on which a naked and bloodied man hangs and says, “This is love."

"The right thing at the wrong tme is the wrong thing."

"When God knows you're ready for the responsibility of commitment, He'll reveal the right person under the right circumstances."