Teen Bible Lesson about dating and other resources
To Date Or Not To Date: That is the question
That is indeed the question. The hottest topic on the minds of Junior High age kids as the hormones ramp up to a fever pitch. What we teach is of grave concern to parents as well. Lots of great stuff has been written on this subject by very learned people. I have been a part of teaching Joshua Harris’ book “I kissed Dating Goodbye” (shown below) as a six week series with the boys and girls separated. It was good to team-teach with a younger youth leader. He could empathize with the young men because he was still in the midst of the battle himself. I added a perspective from the long end of the battle that he could not.
While Joshua’s approach is not to date at all, my Sunday School lesson aims to get kids thinking about their responsibility in a loving relationship, not just what a relationship can do for them.
Kids do not want to be told not to date. They’re going to date. What they want is a biblical approach to relationships. My Sunday school lesson does that.
My teenage son received lots of help and good advice from the books shown below.
This makes a good Valentines Day Sunday school lesson. Talk about their motives about why they want a Valentine.
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Giving teenagers the tools to deal with their budding hormones
Every Teenager’s Little Black Book on Sex and Dating
By Blaine Bartel / Harrison House
This little book teaches the Christian approach to friendships and dating. It discusses topics like how to find the right person, how to be the right person, how to avoid dangers, and more. With simple lists and clearly worded descriptions, it’ll help you keep your life and your relationships on track. This book may be small but it packs a big punch!
Teens and adults alike love the short, simple lists and bullet points filled with humor and hard-hitting truths.
Bible Lessons for teenagers about Sexual Purity and Dating
A survival guide for male teens and young adults struggling with sexual temptation. Learn how to help young men implement a practical “battle plan”—exchanging shame and confusion for a positive, thriving relationship with Christ.
The only way you can survive the intense struggle for sexual integrity is by guarding not just your body, but your mind and heart as well. Every Woman’s Battle can help you learn to do that.
We used these two exceptional books,
Every Young Man’s Battle: Strategies for Victory in the Real World of Sexual Temptation, and
Every Young Woman’s Battle with Workbook, to teach a series of classes on these good sexual questions:
- Why is my faith keeping me from the fun everybody else is having?
- I think about sex a lot. Why?
- Why should I obey God when nobody else seems to—even grownups?
- Is doing this OK with God?
- What do I really believe about God?
- How far is too far?
- Why does God expect so much of me?
For this series of Sunday School lessons on sexual purity we separated the boys and girls. We had both a younger and older leader in each class. The younger leader identified with the youth in their current struggles. The older leader was able to give hard life examples of having fought the battle and the lifelong implications for the decisions they’d make today. It worked really well. Sunday school lessons about dating are always a hot topic. This is a good Valentines day Sunday school lesson.
New Rules For: Love, Sex & Dating
By Andy Stanley / Zondervan
Author and pastor Andy Stanley explores the challenges, assumptions, and land mines associated with love, sex, and dating in the twenty-first century. Best of all, he offers the most practical and uncensored advice you will ever hear on this topic.
“Am I the person my future spouse is looking for?” “Are the Bible’s teachings about women relevant today?” “If sex is only physical, why is the pain of sexual sin so deep?” Offering straight-talking answers to tough questions, Stanley helps men and women avoid relational self-sabotage and prepare to say “I do” – and mean it.
Parents must still have “the talk” with their children.
Panicked parents will ask you to teach these Sunday school lesson on teen dating hoping that they will not have to have “the talk” with their teen. Be careful that you do not give the impression that this will solve all of their teenagers dating challenges. The responsibility of being an upright Christian influence is still the parents responsibility.
We should make these books, full of wonderful advice, available to the teens. However, teenagers must be free to make these decisions, right or wrong. All of them will face the challenge of self-control on this basic level. If the Holy Spirit is firmly seated in the teens heart in the teens heart they will want to make the right decisions.
For the parent it is more an issue of trust in The Lord. They must be willing to allow their teenagers to make their own decisions. Kids learn by doing, they learn from the consequences of making mistakes. A parent parent can not and should not protect their child from every pitfall of life. They should, more importantly, be there as a source of unconditional love and support as God is with us.
Follow up with resources from my web page of Your Youth Groups Porn Problem.
More Than Just the Talk: Becoming Your Kids’ Go-To Person About Sex
By Jonathan McKee / Bethany House
It’s normal for kids to be curious about sex and it’s important for parents to be able to walk alongside them and be their primary go-to source for information. In More Than Just The Talk, Jonathan McKee, an expert on youth culture, shows parents how to move beyond the initial awkwardness of the subject and and develop an ongoing path of communication about God’s amazing gift of sex.
