What to do to prepare yourself for dating

Here at Heart of Dating, we’re all for making the most out of your singleness. We just talked on the podcast about how to know if you should NOT be dating currently. So what if you’re one of the singles that fall under the category of shouldn’t be dating?

How can you use this time to prepare yourself for when you ARE ready to date…

3 things you should do RIGHT NOW to prepare yourself for dating:

1. Deepen your own relationship with Jesus.

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Singleness is the best time to focus on Jesus. No distractions, just you and Him. Don’t let this time with Him go to waste. 

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Not only is this the BEST thing that you can do for your spiritual health BUT it’s also game changing for your emotional health.  

The more time you spend with Him, the more confindent you become in Him and who you are in Christ. Working to have your identity strongly rooted in him is SO essential for a healthy dating life, especially when it comes to rejection. 

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Ways that you can deepen your relationship with Jesus in your singleness are spending time in prayer (we have FREE guide filled with prayers for the single here on our website), getting into scripture, and really starting to incorporate Him into your daily life… even the mundane.

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2. Surround yourself with good, godly community and strong mentorship.

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Some of our biggest dating advice is to NOT date alone in a silo. It’s so important to have wise and godly counsel when you’re starting to date, so why not start building up your board of advisors now? Your board of advisors is made up of people that you admire, look up to and that you can deeply trust (this is key!). 

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Some other essentials for mentorship are below:

• The mentors must HAVE the same priorities and same agenda as you do!
• Take advice from people you trust, people who have fruit in navigating these situations and have true wisdom in those areas through life experience
• They love YOU and want the best for you truly, without any selfish intentions

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Note to self: Don’t JUST ask your SINGLE friends for advice!!!

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3. Understand the true purpose of marriage and God’s design for it. 

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Ask yourself WHY do you want to be DATING? And best of all… WHY do you want to be married? A lot of people don’t really think through this, and this is a good one to do right now. Process this with the Lord. The answer to this question reveals so much about our heart.

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Marriage is NOT for our own selfish gain… and if you’re going into it with that mindset then it probably isn’t going to go like you expect it to. 

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Spend time in your singleness by learning about marriage and it’s true God given purpose, not just what you or your friend thinks about it. There are so many GREAT resources out there from books, to podcasts, to sermons. 

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For more on this topic, check out one of our past episodes with the incredible Jamal Miller, “How to become THE ONE with the 7 Steps to Prepare for Marriage”! On the episode we really break it down and give you 7 very practical steps to prepare you for dating and marriage.