"The love we practice today in dating not only shows the world Christ's love, it also prepares us for our future relationships. As we relate to others today, we form patterns that we'll take with us into sincere love but also practice commitment-based love.
We see so much divorce and betrayal in our society today. Take a quick count - how many of your friends come from a broken homes? I believe that this trend will only increase as each generation begins to practice short-term love in dating relationships earlier and earlier. It seems that dating as we have come to know it doesn't really prepare us for marriage; instead it can be a training ground for divorce. We cannot practice lifelong commitment in a series of short-term relationships.
Does that mean we're supposed to marry the first person we date? No. We need to carefully and cautiously consider marriage, remaining willing to back out of a relationship if God shows us we need to. There's no wisdom in rushing into marriage simply because we've become romantically attached to someone. The wrong mind-set so prevalent today, however, is not related to choosing a spouse. Many of us have fallen prey to the idea that we can, and should, pursue romance for its sake. In other words, "I'll become intimate with you because it feels good, not because I'm prayerfully considering marriage." This attitude is not fair to the other person and is terrible preparation for marriage. Who wants to marry someone who will ditch a relationship the moment romantic feelings wane? Who wants to marry a person who has developed a habit of breaking up and finding someone new when the going gets tough?
We need to realize that lifelong commitment so many of us desire in our future marriages cannot be practiced or prepared for in a lifetime of short-term relationships. Until we can commit to making a relationship work for the rest of our lives - and yes, it is a huge commitment - we do ourselves and others a disservice by pursuing short-term love in the meantime. True love waits, but not just for sex. It waits for the right time to commit to God's brand of love - unwavering, unflagging, and totally committed"