Loveology Week 2

And he says above else, above everything I've tried under the sun, and the most important thing above everything is to what? Guard your heart. Guard your heart for everything you do flows from it. Other bible translation say, guard your heart for it's the wellspring of life. I love how the new living translation interprets this verse. New Living Translation says, guard your heart above all else for it determines the course of your life. [00:51:59] (38 seconds)  #GuardYourHeart

So it says this, verse 15 says, catch for us the foxes, and then it gives us this descriptive word. Right? The little foxes that ruin the vineyards are vineyards that are in bloom. Now notice, song of songs is not talking about agriculture. It's not talking about farming. He's using an illustration to support the point that he just made about not arousing love until the proper time. [00:54:13] (32 seconds)  #CatchTheLittleFoxes

Relationships rarely collapse overnight. They erode little by little. It's all the little things that ruin a relationship. It's the little compromises. It's the little boundaries that you cross. It's the little things that didn't feel big at the time that destroyed a relationship. The principle of the little foxes when it comes to matters of the heart is this, that big relationship failures usually begin with small unguarded decisions. [00:55:11] (48 seconds)  #SmallChoicesBigConsequences

And this is the advice that my wife, Jenny, and I gave to our two daughters throughout their various seasons of life. When my daughters were in upper elementary school, right, fifth grade, because it's gonna be the fifth grade dance. We sat our daughters down and we said, do not awaken love until the proper time. Right? Because you're in fifth grade. You're not ready to enter into where desire is supposed to take you into a covenant relationship. You're a fifth grader. [00:47:42] (37 seconds)  #ProtectYoungHearts

So the captain of the full football team likes you. Right? So what? So you pull out your journal and you go, dear diary, Scotty likes me. And then you just let it sit there. You don't pursue him. You don't throw your heart at him. You don't give your body to him just because he likes you. You just write it in your journal. And when the time is right, when you're more mature and you're ready to enter into a covenant relationship, then you pull out that journal and then you remember good old Scotty, and you just circle back. [00:48:42] (38 seconds)  #PauseDontPursue

If you're dating, have conversations about boundaries before the temptation comes. Last week, I shared with you, I was a little bit personal and vulnerable that I was so nervous when I entered into a dating relationship with Jen Jenny, who's now my wife, for the first time as a Christian man. I didn't know know how to date her as a Christian man. In the past, it was just all about crossing boundaries and sleeping. And when I became a Christian man and I had to date differently than the world. [00:57:54] (36 seconds)  #SetBoundariesBeforeTemptation

If you're engaged, knowing that protecting your purity now strengthens trust later. Guys, I'm gonna be super vulnerable. When Jenny and I got engaged, our wedding date was set. We mailed out the invitation. It was so easy for my mind to say, like, we're gonna get married anyway. We're already engaged. Let's just sleep together. Why are we waiting? [00:59:44] (26 seconds)  #PurityBuildsTrust

Now let me just say this. Because whenever you talk about God's timing, whenever you talk about creating boundaries, right, some people will say, well, if we love each other, there shouldn't be any boundaries. And that sounds romantic, but it's not biblical. Right? Setting up boundaries is not communicating you don't trust one another. Setting up boundaries communicates that you're wise. [01:01:55] (27 seconds)  #BoundariesAreWisdom