I Kissed Dating Goodbye
I finished this a couple of days ago, but due to...well, life, I wasn’t able to start on this immediately.
To be completely honest, this book was not the best I’ve read. But I know it to be pretty popular since everyone was reading this when I was kid (and me being a rebel, I refused to do it as well).
Okay, for you to understand my point of view on this thing, you have to understand one thing. I’ve been attending purity seminars and the like since I was 12. I’ve heard most every story and angle on this thing and that being said, the ideas on this book were not as radical as the author expected them to be. At least not for me.
But still, this book was a well-written one and it was a very good reminder for me.
It’s true when Joshua Harris said that our version of in today’s world is skewed and that sometimes we think purity is just not having sex. When it’s most definitely not.
Now, while this was not the best Christian book I’ve read, it still managed to impact me. Not just because it is Christian book but because it made me reevaluate myself.
I was raised on media, quite literally, my brother and I learned what love was from movies, TV shows and music...and we know what those preach.
So, as I growing up, the hardest thing I had to do was try and define what love was for me. What does it do? How do I know what that is? And not just romantic love but family love and friendship. Heck, even self-love.
It’s a question I’m still trying to answer, but this book served as a...reminder. It’s hard to explain, but let me try.
As I have said, I’ve grown my entire life with not only the “not having sex before marriage” attitude but also with the pop culture version of love. I had decided long ago what my convictions were and the things I held true and the things I did not.
Although it is very hard to stand on those beliefs, I haven’t had any regrets as of yet, that being said I’m entering a new part of my life that’s completely different and alien to me.
I’ve spent the better part of this year and heck, month, trying to piece things together and to figure out how to navigate that new world.
Reading this book before that change happens is like me telling myself “okay, new life. New rules. You have to figure some stuff out and adjust but don’t forget about these. These held you for the longest time and they may be your only familiar face”.
Again, while this may have not been the greatest book, it was the right book for me to read at this time of my life.
Will I go back and read it again? Probably just to re-read the thousands of quote/reminders that I marked.
And so, here we go again.
