This one was tricky. Overwhelmingly the girls we spoke to agreed that you should not marry a non-Christian. But remember, it's one thing to know Truth; it's another thing to believe it to the point of allowing it to operate in your life. As we probed a little more deeply this is what we found.

This seems to be one of thoses areas where many know the right answer, but there are some really lame excuses for why you don't have to live according to the Truth right now. Those excuses include:

The question is-are you planting seeds of purity and faith, or seeds of compromise? We're not going to go easy on you here. This is a huge issue with more serious, potential implications for the rest of your life than you can possibly imagine.

God doesn't want you to be "tied" to unbelievers. His Word is clear that we should not form binding relationship with unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14-18). Marriage is the ultimate binding relationship. God does not want you to be tied to an unbeliever in marriage-and the power to live out that conviction begins now. If you compromise now, you'll be far more likely to compromise when you're ready for marriage.

Don't tell yourself,  " It's just a casual relationship. I would never marry this guy." Maybe not. But if you invest time, interest, effort and thought in a guy...sooner or later, you may well find yourself making life-impacting decisions you never dreamed you would make.

Not only does God want you to marry a Christian; He wants you to marry a man who will lead you spiritually. He desires for all of your relationships to draw you closer to Him and to enable you to serve Him more effectively. The Scripture actually uses the word "yoked" to describe being tied together in a binding relationship (2 Corinthians 6:14). Imagine two cattle yoked into a harness to carry one load. If one is weak, how great a burden will that be to the strong one? How much will the weak one hold the strong one back?

This is one area where there is no room for compromise. Satan is seeking to rob you of a future filled with joy, peace, and the opportunity to glorify God wit you life. It's not worth trading all that in for a relationship with a guy who doesn't have a heart for God and for a future that could end up filled with pain and heartache.

Over the years, many women have poured out their hearts to us about deep regrets they have over choice they have made relating to dating, courtship and marriage. They would give anything to be able to go back and relive that part of their lives. Unfortunately. that's just not possible. As I (Nancy) listen to these women share their heartaches, I often think, " I wish every young woman could hear this story-before it's too late!"

We want to spare you the kind of heartache others have experienced. We want you to enjoy God's very best for the rest of your life. So we're going to give you a challenge. We want to urge you to make a serious commitment.  (You may think you're too young now to be even thinking about dating, much less marriage! But now is the time to develop wise, godly convictions.)

You may think that standard sounds unnecessarily high for "casual dating". But think about it-if you never date a guy who would not be qualified to be a godly husband, you will significantly decrease your chances of ending up in a troubled marriage. We're confident this is one commitment you'll never regret making!

If you're willing to take this pledge, go to http://www.liesyoungwomenbelieve.com/ and join others who are signing up online!

Shelby ;D