The most delicate thing. You own is your heart. God has created your heart to be so tender that it'll fall in love so very easily. So every time you enter into a relationship, this happens every time you make a memory with someone this happens every time you laugh. Cry sing dance kiss someone else. This starts to happen to your heart and then one day, if you're fortunate, you'll walk down an aisle and you'll look at
your future husband. A future wife and you'll give them the most precious gift you own, you'll give them your heart. So my question to you is do you want to give them a full heart or are you quite contented to just give them a piece of your heart? And that is why we should never ever be casual about dating. Your non-Christian friends. They might say, it's only a date. It's only a kiss but actually know, the Bible says do not awaken love until it is ready.
So here are five warning signs. Five red flags. That God might be protecting you from a bad relationship. Number one, they are floods now, perhaps I'm wrong about this. So I'm going to ask the your opinion. Now, you tell me, do you think there is ever such a thing as innocent flirting over? See you personally. I don't think there ever is, you see? When we flirt, we give the person were flirting with the impression that were attracted to them.
So, as we said earlier that the heart, which is so delicate. ARCA. It begins to open up and we give that person a false hope that were interested in them. If the person you know, the person you're interested in if they really do enjoy, getting attention of the opposite sex. I'm saying just be very very careful because everything in our life grows, whatever we Harbor in our hearts, it will
grow into something bigger. And that flirting can often grow into something much much bigger that can lead to cheating and adultery in marriage further down the line. Let me let you into a secret. Some of my closest friends don't agree with me on this matter, but I'm going to say it anyway, because I believe the Lord has placed this on my heart. I personally don't think is a good idea for a man to be close friends of a woman who he is, not in a relationship with.
I just think you're opening up the hearts too many different issues. Perhaps you disagree with me on this one, but it is interesting that Billy Graham. The Evangelist. He promised he vowed that he would never ever be caught spending any time. E time alone with another woman other than his wife. And in, an era where there was so many scandals with evangelist with famous preachers to this day. Billy Graham still has a clean name.
And so, I try to live like that and I perhaps would like to suggest to you that you are only seen alone with the person that you would desire to be with for the rest of your life. Red flag. Number two is sometimes God will reveal to you. That this person actually has a nasty aside to them, their abusive. Older aggressive. I can assure you of one thing, the most unhappy marriages are the marriages that are filled with point-scoring, with arguments. And with aggression. The Apostle.
Peter was not playing games. When he wrote this, do not let your adornment be merely outward. Arranging the hair wearing gold or putting on fine apparel, rather. Let it be the hidden person of the heart, with The Incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet. Wyatt Spirit. Now, let me tell you something. It is important to be physically attracted to the person. You're going to marry. I'm very physically attracted to my wife.
If I'm being completely honest with you, right now, but at the same time, please please, please, listen to me. It doesn't matter how many preachers you will hear say looks are not the most important thing. Some of you will ignore this piece of advice and you will just be layered with your eyes and with your lust there. Say and you'll run into a marriage and you'll marry a person who does not have The Godly traits.
You see the most beautiful marriages are the marriages, which are clothed with gentleness. Those are the marriages? Which God blesses? And I'll tell you something if you marry an angry or abusive man or an angry or abusive woman when they're getting angry and those frown lines start to deepen and deepen, suddenly, they won't look as attractive as they once did.
So if God does show you a glimpse of Of what this person really is. Like, remember once the dating mask is revealed a new enter into a church and you marry that person. It's only going to get worse and worse and worse. So think very very wisely. Whether this is a person you could live for the rest of your life with and really that leads us onto red flag number three. If they don't fear, God, can I tell you something man? If you find a woman who fears God, you need to put her?
Ring on that finger straight away. The Bible says, this charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised before Emma and I got married, we chose a couple, an elderly couple who are very, very dear to us. It was a pastor and his wife and they told us their story of how they fell in love.
They went to Bible College when they were like 18 or 19 years old and every night they would kneel down and they pray together and the Man actually Said I fell in love with my wife, when I heard her prey, isn't that beautiful? And I'll tell you something, when I look at marriage is around me. I still cannot think of a more beautiful marriage than that couple. I'm telling you about right now, but on the flip side, however, I've also got another friend and he's been single for a long,
long time. And I remember, once we're on a mission together and he looked at me and he said, Joe, your wife must know, some other younger Christian women that I might be able to marry. Perhaps. I mean just tell They only have to be half a Christian. They don't even have to be a full Christian and we might kind of laugh at that but there are actually quite a few people who
I think. Think like that on a subconscious level as long as they just say there are Christian. As long as they sort of read their Bible, once every couple of months, they'll do. I'm just so desperate to get married. But really, there is nothing. As I said earlier, there is nothing more important than who you decide to marry. But hey now, let's just be honest with one. Another if you did want to marry a half. Bake. Christian, it wouldn't be hard to find, just go into one of our churches.
There's a sort of social Christianity that has spread through the church where we have Christians, who they've grown up in the church. They love the community. They love the morals, the values that Christians have, but they don't love the Christ, who saved those who, bear the name of Christ and call themselves Christians, you know, the Savior did tell a very, very shocking story about this Farmer's field. And it was filled with wheat, but alongside the wheat, grew
these tears. And what was interesting is, the tears looked exactly the same. As the wheat, they were identical. And you couldn't tell the difference. And then Jesus goes on to say that, the Harvest will come and the wheat will be gathered and put into barns but the tears will be plucks up and put into an unquenchable fire. And that story is a picture of the church because in the Pew next to you our people Who might not even know the Lord Jesus Christ?
Okay, they're identical to you. They say the right things. But at the very heart that they're very epicenter. There is no repentance and there is no love for the Savior who died for Sinners. Okay. So here's the answer. You all want to know. Tell us Joe. How do we know if this person is actually a True born-again Believer, but it's very very simple. Jesus also said this once out of the abundance of the heart. So the mouth speaks.
So, what you and I have to do is listen, very, very carefully to their conversations. Do they love to speak about the Lord? Jesus Christ? If you talk about the Savior to their eyes, light up or do they glaze over, when you want to read the Bible, or pray with them to they get excited, or do they try and change the subject because you want someone who has the same passion that you have for the Lord Jesus Christ. And maybe a listen to this now.
And as I'm preaching it, I myself am getting quite challenging my own. Pirate thinking, do I often speak of the Savior? Well, we all need to make sure that we get that heart of repentance. We keep turning back to the Lord. God. We keep believing on the gospel, keep believing on the Savior and turning, to him, red flag, number 4, sometimes your friends, or your family members might be very, very concerned that this person isn't the right
person for you at all. William Shakespeare once said, love is blind and for those of you who've ever been in love, you know exactly what Shakespeare meant you off. And don't see anything but the good in that person, and that's not necessarily the worst thing in the world. But sometimes our friends and our family members might see things which we've totally missed. But at the same time, remember this sometimes friends and
family members. They might be jealous or sometimes there might be mothers who were so protective of their children that no one in the world is good enough for them. Okay, so, take all of that into your mind and then let me take you to a man called Samson. Samson in the Bible. I fell in love with an unbeliever. A Philistine woman and his parents. Severely warned him, not to marry this woman.
This is what they said. Is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among my people that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistine, 's for Samson ignored them. He went his own way, and he kept running after these Philistine, women all the way through his life until eventually. It led to Death, because he was so proud that he would not listen to the voice of his parents. But let me give you something else to think about. Not only are we to listen to
what our parents say. We're also to listen to what their parents say. This person you're interested in. Do they respect their mom and their dad? How do they treat their friends? Are? They always gossiping and stabbing them in the back or do they love them and they're loyal because remember this, how they treat, the people who are closest to them. Them is how they will one day, treat you. And lastly red flag. Number five, which really is aimed at my fellow.
Christian men is an unwillingness to work. Proverbs. 24 verse 27 says this prepare your outside work, make it fit for yourself in the field and afterwards, build your house. So what does that verse mean, Joe? Well, I think it means this. You've got this idea of here, are these farmers and their livelihood is their crops, their work? Hard in their fields and their planting many, many seeds, and they know the Harvest is coming. They know that soon.
They'll have food on the table. So once the field is sorted out, then they can go in and they can build their home and have a family. The Bible also says this, if a man will not work, he shall not eat. And if there's a man that you've got your eye set on ladies and he's not willing to work. And if you're a man listening to this right now and you love playing on video games all day, you can't. Get up at a reasonable time. You're lazy. You don't have any
responsibilities. How can the good Lord? Give you the biggest responsibility. A daughter of Christ. Now men before you, hang your head in shame and feel totally embarrassed. Let me tell you something embarrassing about myself. I've got a fess up and be totally truthful with you right
now. I, when I proposed to Emma, didn't have a job, and the Lord in his Mercy, provided a job within a week, my old The former employer that I worked for, she rang me up and said Joe would you come back and work for us? And I said, of course, I will. I just got engaged and I need money so that I can get married and the Lord provided in that way. So don't panic too much. I'm just saying to you that we all need to make sure that we take these responsibilities. Seriously.
And remember it is a total privilege to be in a relationship. It is a total privilege to get married and to become one with another person. You've got one more moment. Would you mind just listening to this as a Christian YouTuber? There are certain videos that really do matter to you and that the Lord particularly lays a message on your heart and you want it to reach as many people. One of them is this video right here.
All about, saving yourself for marriage and I prayed to the Lord Lord. Would you let 1 million people watched this video saved and unsaved? I want the world to hear this message and in his Mercy. A, he really did answer that prayer. So if you've not seen it, please go and watch it now, and if you haven't yet subscribed, please do consider subscribing. We'd love your friendship here at off the curb Ministries. God bless you all. And thank you for watching.