Single, Dating, Engaged, Married Quotes

“We have to be connected to a source of life if we are going to be a source of life.”
― Ben Stuart, Single, Dating, Engaged, Married: Navigating Life and Love in the Modern Age

“You want someone with character—not perfect, but perfectable, because he or she is submitted to the Lord and longs to do his will.”
― Ben Stuart, Single, Dating, Engaged, Married: Navigating Life and Love in the Modern Age

“But let me plead with you: before you get a relationship with a guy or a girl right, it is essential you get a relationship with God right. He is your source of life. He is your source of love. He is your stability. He is the hero who came for you, fought for you, died for you, and rose for you so that you could have life. He is the One who builds a structure in which you succeed and a kingdom in which you flourish. If you learn to trust him, he will make you the kind of person you are meant to be, and the world will be better for it.”
― Ben Stuart, Single, Dating, Engaged, Married: Navigating Life and Love in the Modern Age

“When someone says to me, "I have been talking with this girl for a while. We're trying to figure out when to make it official, like, Facebook official. What's your advice?" I always ask in response, "Are you, as an individual, in an emotional, spiritual, and financial situation where you feel you could reasonable get married in the next six months?" Normally the guy answers, "No." I respond, "Then you do not need to be in a rush to try to lay some claim on this girl. You do not need to expedite attempting to name your relationship. Because what you are trying to do is get the security and comfort of locking her down, saying to the world, 'She is MY girlfriend.' But what does that mean? It means other guys can't have her. It means you have laid a certain claim on her. But under God, you have no rights over her! She can do whatever she wants!”
― Ben Stuart, Single, Dating, Engaged, Married: Navigating Life and Love in the Modern Age

“Freedom is not the absence of boundaries, it is the ability to fulfill created intent.”
― Ben Stuart, Single, Dating, Engaged, Married: Navigating Life and Love in the Modern Age

“The married man has clear biblical texts concerning physicality. . .The brother and sister in Christ have clear commands as well. . . What about the boyfriend and girlfriend? There are no verses for that category because God does not acknowledge that as a category. So if you are dating, your operative verses are 1 Timothy 5. Then the question becomes, "How far is too far with your mom? Where is the line with your sister?”
― Ben Stuart, Single, Dating, Engaged, Married: Navigating Life and Love in the Modern Age

“That is the vision we are aiming for in marriage: a couple hand in hand, pursuing God together—same direction, same pace, good chemistry. This is what marriage is meant to be. Dating is the modern process of evaluation we use to find that person to marry.”
― Ben Stuart, Single, Dating, Engaged, Married: Navigating Life and Love in the Modern Age

“If I am resting in God’s guidance of my future, I am free to be a servant and a friend to the people around me. I can relax and enjoy every moment of my life because I rest in the knowledge that my strong and loving God is leading me in a good way. We don’t get to know everything in this life, but we do get to know the One who knows everything, and that is an encouraging thought.”
― Ben Stuart, Single, Dating, Engaged, Married: Navigating Life and Love in the Modern Age

“In verse 10 he speaks, saying to her, “Arise, my love, my beautiful one.” The Hebrew word we translate “love” from here is the word rayahti. Used throughout the Old Testament, the word is variously translated “neighbor,” “companion,” or “friend.” Yes, he is attracted to her physically, referring to her as a beautiful one. But nine times throughout this short book he chooses to call her “friend.” She refers to him throughout the text as dodi, translated here as “beloved.” It carries a similar idea of someone cherished. What this means is that they are drawn to one another’s character, but they are also knit closer and closer together by their continued kindness and friendship. They simply enjoy being with one another.”
― Ben Stuart, Single, Dating, Engaged, Married: Navigating Life and Love in the Modern Age

“Rather, he was asserting that singleness, dating, and marriage, while important, are not the main story line of your life.”
― Ben Stuart, Single, Dating, Engaged, Married: Navigating Life and Love in the Modern Age

“Many of you will get married in the years ahead. I promise you, it will only help the future health of your marriage if you go through whatever journey you must now to forgive those who have hurt you in your past. If you refuse to forgive the strangers or family members who have hurt you in the past, how will you forgive your spouse in the future, who is sure to wound you?”
― Ben Stuart, Single, Dating, Engaged, Married: Navigating Life and Love in the Modern Age

“It is okay to long to be in a relationship and long to be married. That longing is good. The ache for companionship existed in Adam before the entrance of sin in Genesis 3. But”
― Ben Stuart, Single, Dating, Engaged, Married: Navigating Life and Love in the Modern Age

“Finding someone is easy, but finding the RIGHT someone the RIGHT way is not.

What we are looking for is character and chemistry

That is vision we are aiming for in a marriage : a couple hand in hand, pursuing God together - same direction, same pace, good chemistry.

Dating is the modern process of evaluation we use to find that person to marry”
― Ben Stuart, Single, Dating, Engaged, Married: Navigating Life and Love in the Modern Age