Dear Daughter
We have a lot of people in our church in the dating, engaged, and newly married catergory. It’s a tumultuous season as people are deciding who they will commit to for the rest of your lives. Here’s some thoughts I will be sharing with my own daughters in the future about how to marry the right person:
1. Don’t date people who have recently been jailed. There is a reason they have been kept from society.
2. Drugs make you stupid. Don’t date a stupid person.
3. If a guy wants you to have sex before marriage, kick him. Or bring him home to your father, who will kick him.
4. People with a past are negotiable. Jesus forgives and changes hearts. That being said, the past is not a month ago. Your father will let you know when the past arrives.
5. If Godly people aren’t congratulating you on what a great guy you are dating, it’s because he’s not a great guy.
6. If you think it’s okay to date someone who is not a great guy, bring yourself home to your father. He will copiously tell you how very wrong you are. At this point, you need to believe him or blindly obey.
7. Good boys do not finish last. They make the best husbands, dads, and leaders in your home. See #1, 2, 3, and 5 if you want to date a bad boy.
8. Make sure he knows how to read. Test him by giving him a Bible. When he’s finished reading it, you might be able to marry him.
9. If he buys your engagement ring on a credit card, he needs to go through Financial Peace University before you accept his engagement. He is currently a finincial idiot, but there is still hope.
10. He needs to love Jesus before you date him. I know of a great church where amazing pastors will invest in his life. He will be scared at times, but if he survives, you might be able to marry him.
“Dear Daughter” is the best. One of my dad’s favorite prayers — which he insists he wore out — was, “Dear, God. I know my child will do something great. Just make sure it’s legal!”