Free Christian matchmaking services attempt to bring together those persons who have a common allegiance to Jesus Christ and possess interests and personalities that are compatible. These matchmaking services that are free allow anyone to join the network and place a personal with a picture so that others can respond with an email. Many people, living the Christ centered life out in everyday life circumstances, believe strongly in the principle of being equally yoked (a biblical term). This principle, based on New Testament scripture, commands a Christ centered person to only have a romantic/marital relationship with another Christian. Unfortunately, many young people ignore this particular admonition and divorce is the result later. Differences in values, goals and religious commitments often are the core reasons for the marital breakup. Many divorced individuals, having learned hard lessons from the past, search for a person who has had a life changing encounter (II Corinthians 5:17) with Jesus Christ for their second mate.
The wisest use of free Christian matchmaking services is before one ever begins getting serious about getting married the first time. Statistics reveal that while almost one out of two marriages end in divorce, only one out of several hundred marriages end that way when two committed Christians are involved. It is the wise person that early in adult life seeks to obey the command to only date, fall in love with and marry another Christian. Free Christian matchmaking services can be a possible route to making that happen. In order to begin the process, a person must fill out a profile that paints a verbal picture of who he or she is, and it always pays to be upfront and honest when doing so.
Free Christian matchmaking services typically do not provide in-depth personality profiles in a number of different dimensions as some nationally known "for profit" matchmaking services do. Typically participants send in a picture and their profile. Visitors to the website are then invited to scan the profiles to look for those who might be appearing to be a good match. Sadly, many free services allow poorly written profiles to be placed on the website which can reflect negatively on the person being presented. And some websites that are free Christian matchmaking services will assume that a person is Christ centered without asking for an in-depth Christian testimony, which can lead some website participants to make assumptions that may not be correct. But others take their responsibility quite seriously and attempt to screen those who are blatantly not interested in spiritual matters. Keep in mind that some of the sites that are advertised as Christian are actually run by companies that have similar websites in a number of other genres, often advertising certain types of matchmaking that clash with what would considered to be traditional Christ centered values.
Let's understand here that the word "Christian" does get thrown around a lot. It is certainly not defined by a denomination nor is it defined by someone's work or philanthropic endeavors, but is rather defined by a life altering relationship with Jesus. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away, behold all things are become new." (II Corinthians 5:17) This new man or woman is then given, over time from God, qualities not naturally found in humans. These qualities include, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and gentleness and long-suffering. These qualities, when found in both marriage partners, dramatically lessen the possibility of future marital shipwreck. Free Christian matchmaking services might be a way to find the right partner who has these values in his or her life.
If a person is astute about this whole Christian dating and matchmaking thing, it will not take long to see whether or not high quality and sincere Christians are on the website in question. Some sites do indeed take time to profile their clients in such a way as to expose shallowness or insincerity in the various participants. Free Christian matchmaking services may or not be a bargain when it comes to help in finding a life partner and with a decision so important weighing in the balance, taking one's time and seeking out the best websites is the most important component in finding that special person. Even if the services have a cost to them, they may well be worth the investment. Of course for the Christian person looking for that special one, there is one thing to keep in mind: being single isn't nearly as painful as being married to the wrong person.
There are those who question whether or not someone should even use free Christian matchmaking services, somehow confusing God's control over us and our circumstances (His sovereignty) and our own responsibility to move out and act with the belief that He is there to guide us. This can best be left to the theologians, but few have ever seen God allow a praying person who has plenty of money in their pocket and an empty gas tank pass a gas station without consequences. God in honored when we move out and do what we can for ourselves, asking Him to intervene when necessary. There are a couple of rules when using any matchmaking website and the first one is to use a real picture of you. Looking at pictures of fifty something's on these websites that look like they are twenty five is laughable. Imagine the horror of the woman who opens the door for her first website date, expecting Antonio Bandares but getting Col. Sanders! And listen, if you like to wrestle alligators, put it in your profile; he may get to liking it also!
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