Date Efficiently and Wisely

Whitney Hopler

If you invest several months or years into a dating relationship, forming strong emotional bonds with your boyfriend or girlfriend, the pain you'll both experience if you break up will be tremendous. And if you end up getting married despite not being good matches for each other, a bad marriage will inflict even more pain on you both. So it makes a lot of sense to try to discern as early as possible whether someone is a good potential marriage partner for you.

Here are some ways you can date efficiently and wisely:

Adapted from Date ... Or Soul Mate?: How to Know if Someone is Worth Pursuing in Two Dates or Less, copyright 2002 by Neil Clark Warren, Ph.D. Published by Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tn., www.thomasnelson.com, 1-800-251-4000.

Neil Clark Warren and his wife, Marylyn, have been married for 42 years. A bestselling author and the founder of eharmony.com, he holds a master of divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Chicago. He lives and practices in Southern California.

If you're married, how long did it take you to discover whether your current spouse was a good match for you as a potential marriage partner, and how did you discover that? If you're single, what fears do you have about marriage, and how have you relied on God to help you overcome those fears as you date people? Visit Crosswalk's forums to discuss this topic by clicking on the link below.

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