Courtship for Christians, is a period of time in a relationship between a man and a woman where they ask God if it is his will for them to be married. It is done under the guidance of mentors or parents. The couple concentrate on building a deeper friendship and discerning whether or not they are ready for marriage.
In today’s world, courtship and dating are often seen as the same whereas they are different. While courtship is being with someone with the goal of marriage, dating involves building a romantic interest in another person without any expressed desire for a long time commitment.
In the Christendom, the sole purpose of courtship is to ascertain God’s will and direction concerning the relationship. There is no specific formula for courtship in the bible. That is, you cannot go to a specific passage that tells exactly how to court. The word “courtship” is not even found in the Bible. Not only that, but the Bible is very short on models for courtship and has none that are consistent with the current culture. So how can we possibly know from Scripture what we should do? Though there is no specific courtship formula in one passage of Scripture, God supplies us with all the principles but they are sprinkled throughout the Bible. As with many other topics, He requires us to study diligently to put together all the pieces.
It involves 5 different steps
1. Prayer
2. Waiting to hear from God
3. Counseling
4. Informing and asking of the parents permission
5. Asking the Partner.
And it has two possible outcomes
1. The decision that the Lord is not in support of the marriage
2. Engagement.
As practicing Christians it is often advised that before marriage we take our time to know more about the partner, be sure of compatibility and seek for God’s revelation and directions on whatever relationship one might be in so we don’t end up making mistakes that cannot be erased.
I hope you enjoyed this message. Tell us your experience or opinions in the comments section below.
Written By Omoboriowo Imoleayo.
