COURTSHIP

                                       WHAT IS COURTSHIP?
You've heard a lot about it, but what exactly is it? Many of you have
written in with this same question, wondering about courtship and how it is
different from dating.

Courtship means different things to different people. According to the
dictionary, courtship is "the wooing of one person by another; the period
during which such wooing takes place." Simply put, courtship is the process
of winning another person's romantic love.

Courtship begins by expressing a romantic interest in another person. Then
you form a relationship with each other, and as your courtship progresses,
you fall in love. If all goes well, the courtship ends in a happy marriage.

The same could be said of dating. You express romantic interest, form a
relationship, fall in love, and get married. Always.

The main difference between courtship and dating is that courtship always
means that you are in some form of a serious relationship. But dating can
mean something far more casual. For example, just because you go out on a
date with someone doesn't mean you're serious about them or even like them
that much. Maybe you just decided to go out on one date for fun or to see
what happens.

So, while courtship always means a serious relationship, dating can mean
either a serious or a casual relationship.

In the last several years, the term "courtship" has become more and more
popular among Christian circles to describe various methods of engaging in
a serious romantic relationship. For some Christians, courtship means an
approach to marriage that is almost the same thing as an arranged marriage.
Your parents pick your future mate and there is hardly any one-on-one
contact before marriage. For others, it means the same thing as a serious
dating relationship. You decide to court someone when you are thinking
about perhaps marrying that person.

Still others use the term "courtship" to describe a set of biblical
principles that Christians should follow in their approach to romance.
These principles usually include: 1) Seeking and receiving the approval of
parents before entering into a romantic relationship; 2) Waiting to start a
serious relationship until you are at the age where you could consider
getting married; 3) Entering into the relationship with the purpose of
pursuing the idea of marriage, not just going out for fun with no serious
intentions; and 4) Setting high standards for physical purity.

I think that the four principles listed above are important for every
Christian to follow. Whether you want to call it courtship or dating
doesn't matter. The principles are what's important.