Friday's Fire: Guest Post by Michelle Graham of the ChristianCrush* Team

I often hear the lament of fellow singles that they are waiting for the "perfect" mate. We all deserve God's best. Graham's post tells us how some of these expectations may hinder, instead of help, our relationships.
Enjoy her fire!    

Do Christian Dating Sites Make You Harder to Please? 
 
  Christian dating sites may actually make it harder for some to find a mate.  An online survey from earlier this year reveals that, while most people  approach love and dating using more modern methods, many of them remain old-fashioned:  they still believe in love at first sight.  Nearly 46 percent of those surveyed said they believed that God had "one" right person for them.

What's most surprising to many is that more men than women believe that love at first sight exists. 
 
Women  are stereotypically viewed as more romantic than men, but if the results of this online  survey are any reflection of the broader population's beliefs, then it seems that women  aren’t the ones who are overwhelmingly enchanted by romance.   Some online dating experts are nervous about such results–-it seems that hoping for too much romance can lead to unrealistic expectations from a date or, eventually, a marriage partner. 

According to Pastor Timothy Keller, the more romance a person expects, the less able they are to leave room for mistakes and human frailties.    

Christian Mingle’s community manager advises that the best way to find a good  marriage partner is to form friendships first (which essentially  nixes the idea of love at first sight).  Christian dating sites  can be helpful for finding people who share your faith, but be careful they don’t make you more picky.  

Attraction is  certainly a huge part of dating, but you need to avoid thinking patterns that thrust you into a cycle of never-ending dates and a never-ending search for "the one."  Instead, slow down the courting  process and really invest in the people you are getting to know.  Develop  close and lasting relationships.  Don't expect perfection: Realize that one of God’s greatest purposes in marriage is to refine two  imperfect people  so that they can become more like  Him.  

*ChristianCrush.com aims to be the most authentic, innovative, and trustworthy site on the web for believers to connect. 

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Article Source: Eryn Sun, Christian Dating Site Finds Singles Still Believe in Love at First Site,  The Christian Post, Retrieved on August 26, 2013