The doctrine of Scripture teaches us about the authority of God's Word. Scripture must be the final rule of faith and practice for our lives. Not our feelings or emotions. Not signs or prophetic words or hunches.
Joshua HarrisEvery relationship for a Christian is an opportunity to love another person like God has loved us. To lay down our desires and do what's in his or her best interest. To care for him or her even when there's nothing in it for us. To want that person's purity and holiness because it pleases God and protects him or her.
Joshua HarrisWomen need to remember that if nature has made them plain, grace can make them beautiful, and if nature has made them beautiful, good deeds can add to their beauty. Grace will make you beautiful and will attract truly godly men to you. Make godliness and inward beauty your priority.
Joshua HarrisHaving 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.
Joshua HarrisThe thing about relationships is, when you are in the middle of one, they consume your focus.
Joshua HarrisWhen God knows you're ready for the responsibility of commitment, He'll reveal the right person under the right circumstances.
Joshua HarrisA defining reality for me is what Scripture teaches in Hebrews 12, that God is our father, and that a sign that he loves us is that he disciplines us, he takes us through hardship to build character in us that could not be shaped apart from difficulty.
Joshua HarrisMany couples have made commitments to sexual purity, but instead of adopting a lifestyle that supports this commitment, they continue relationships that encourage physical expression and place themselves in dangerous settings. The path you take with your feet should never contradict the conviction of your heart.
Joshua HarrisYou are so amazed by grace, you're not picking a fight with anyone, you're just crying tears of amazement that should lead to a heart for lost people, that God does indeed save, when he doesn't have to save anybody.
Joshua HarrisEvery relationship for a Christian is an opportunity to love another person like God has loved us.
Joshua HarrisLiving to glorify God means doing everything... for Him, His way, to point to His greatness and to reflect His goodness.
Joshua HarrisI am a sucker for romance and I love girls and that is a terrible combination, because romance has the ability to overwhelm your perspective.
Joshua HarrisIntimacy without commitment, like icing without cake, can be sweet, but it ends up making us sick.
Joshua HarrisDonโt concern yourself with being right in othersโ eyes. And donโt secretly hope that their lives will fall apart so that your opinion will be vindicated. Instead, concentrate on obeying God in your own life and, when possible, helping others to obey Him as well. You donโt have to prove others wrong to continue on the course you know God has shown you.
Joshua HarrisDuring courtship, guarding each other's purity and refraining from intimacy are the acts of lovemaking.
Joshua HarrisWhen you dress and behave in a way that is designed primarily to arouse sexual desire in men, you are committing pornography with your life.
Joshua HarrisTrue purity, however, is a direction, a persistent, determined pursuit of righteousness. This direction starts in the heart, and we express it in a lifestyle that flees opportunities for compromise.
Joshua HarrisThe most romantic things a man can do for a woman are the little things that let her know that she's on his mind and in his heart.
Joshua HarrisWe express true love in obedience to God and service to others- not reckless or selfish behavior- and we choose these behaviors.
Joshua HarrisWisdom in relationships involves a selfless desire to do what's best for the other person.
Joshua HarrisA lot of us have developed a diet mentality toward lust. We really want to cut back on lust because we know its not healthy and it makes us feel bad. But like some rich, calorie-laden chocolate dessert, lust is just too tasty to resist completely. Surely God will understand if we break our diet and nibble a little lust now and then.
Joshua HarrisโTrue love isn't expressed in passionately whispered words an intimate kiss or a embrace; before two people are married, love is expressed in self-control, patience, even words left unsaid.
Joshua HarrisI'm not saying dating is sinful, and I'm not saying a guy and a girl should never spend time alone together. I'm saying let's wait until we can be purposeful, so there's a reason behind our relationship, and we're not just stirring up passion for the sake of a good time.
Joshua HarrisLord, help me to appreciate this woman/man without elevating her/him above you in my heart. Help me to remember that nobody can ever take your place in my life. You are my strength, my hope, my joy, and my ultimate reward. Bring me back to reality, God. Give me an undivided heart.
Joshua HarrisJust because lips have met doesn't mean hearts have joined. And just because two bodies are drawn to each other doesn't mean two people are right for each other. A physical relationship does not equal love.
Joshua HarrisI've come to learn that theology matters. It matters not because we want to impress people, but because what we know about God shapes the way we think and live. Theology matters because if we get it wrong then our whole life will be wrong.
Joshua HarrisOne of my defining beliefs is that Jesus Christ has taken all of my guilt before God, and that he has been raised from the dead. That gives incredible hope and meaning to every day of my life - that nothing done in this world is wasted when it's done for him and his glory, and that there will be a day of justice and reward for the entire world.
Joshua HarrisDating now is a lot like going shopping when you don't have any money. Even if you find the right thing, you can't do anything about it.
Joshua HarrisWhen we define our happiness by some point in the future, it will never arrive. We'll keep waiting until tomorrow. If we allow impatience to govern us, we will miss the gift of the moment. We'll arrive at that point in time we expected to provide fulfillment and find it lacking.
Joshua HarrisI won't stick around to see how much temptation I can take. God is not impressed with my ability to stand up to sin. He is more impressed by the obedience I show when I run from it.
Joshua HarrisI've come to see that you can limit God is different ways. You can limit Him by thinking he can never work in spectacular ways. But you can also limit Him by thinking that only the spectacular is meaningful." - from "Dug Down Deep
Joshua HarrisWe can each rest in the knowledge that God is sovereign over our life's situation. No matter where we are today or what mistakes we've made in the past, He has given us everything we need to glorify Him right now.
Joshua HarrisWe 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.
Joshua HarrisBut remember, continuing a wrong relationship only increases the pain when it finally does end.
Joshua HarrisYou get up and you preach a sermon and people walk away thinking what a great guy - and that's a failure as a pastor. Our job is to proclaim Christ.
Joshua HarrisWhen you let God be God you can let humans be humans. When we place God in His rightful place in our lives, we don't struggle so much when human relationships let us down.
Joshua HarrisIf you ant to feel deeply, you have to think deeply. Too often we separate the two. We assume that if we want to feel deeply, then we need to sit around and, well, feel. But emotion built on emotion is empty. True emotion- emotion that is reliable and does not lead us astray- is always a response to reality, to truth.
Joshua Harris