Mike Farris:
Many young people begin romantic relationships when they’re just too young. Courtship first of all requires young people to wait until they’re old enough to emotionally and practically consider marriage, before entering into any kind of relationship.

The second major operating principle of courtship is that there’s no such thing as casual dating. Any date is undertaken with the mutual understanding between both the young people and both sets of parents that these young people are engaged in checking each other out with a serious belief that their relationship may lead to marriage.

Four of my grown daughters have gotten married to the only boyfriends they’ve ever had. They have known dozens of guys, because we encourage all kinds of group activities where there is a mixture of both sexes. But those committed to courtship have been the dominant force in their group activities, and so pairing off has been off limits unless the couple is prepared to declare themselves publicly ready for marriage and headed on that path with each other.

Every bride and groom say to each other, at least implicitly, that they love each other with all their heart. Little pieces of one’s heart are given away each time a romance of any magnitude has blossomed. When each of my daughters walked the aisle, her promise to love her husband with all her heart was literally true.

I’m Mike Farris.