Welcome to the D-Breep podcast with Matthew Stephen Brown, where we take your real questions about faith, the Bible, and culture, and give you honest, practical advice you can trust.

We're glad you're here. Now, let's get into today's episode.

Hey, D-Rief listeners. Thanks for tuning in. Without you, we have no questions to answer, so we're super grateful for you. On today's episode, we're talking a lot about dating. Yeah, because you and I have so much experience in this category. It's a billion years since Matt and I've dated, so this should be a fun one. Yeah, when we dated, the dinosaurs walk to Earth.

We had to walk to school. Both ways. Both ways. Bare foot. Now we sound like our grandparents. I know. Honest to God, more and more, though, I say things that I'm just like, we're old people now. We say those things. Okay, you ready to get into these questions? Yes. This first one comes from Warrior in Lake Arrowhead.

And I'm wondering if that's actually your name Warrior. Yeah. It's just like a personality trait of you. So, yes. It says, what are your thoughts on what age you should start dating or is it based on maturity? Yeah, so Warrior, I'm going to guess that you're probably a teenager. And so if you are, so if I'm wrong,

so I'm going to answer it like you're a teenager, and then I'm going to answer it like you're not a teenager.

So if you're a teenager, it's really based upon two things. One is your maturity level, and two is your

parents' permission. So if they don't feel like you're ready, or let's be honest,

if they're not ready, because I think a lot of times as parents, like, it's a new stage,

it's adding a new thing, and it's a group project when you're a teenager. It's just not an

individual right or thing. Just like driving isn't just about you. It's based upon can your parents

afford it? Are they ready for it? And then are you mature enough to handle the responsibility?

So I would say, I would say that it's based on maturity and then your parents, if you're a teenager,

kind of their philosophy or their theology, I mean theology is ideas about God. Their philosophy of their Christian faith and how it relates to you dating. And so what I would just say, it sounds like based on the question, you're ready to date. And so I would, instead of posing this to the debrief, I would pose it to your parents if you're a teenager. If you're an adult, I would say then it's something that's probably based

upon your maturity and I would get some input from some friends. Maybe your parents, if they're

still around, because juggling relationships is not easy. It's a complex thing. It's a difficult

thing. And a lot of heartbreak comes simply because we want to be in a dating

relationship doesn't mean that we're ready. And I can't tell you how many young adults are taking a break from dating.

Even people that have been married, divorced, or are widows or widowers. And like, I just need to take a step back from this.

Because even literally people in their 50s, people in their 30s,

people in their 20s are saying, okay, this is a whole lot more than I was ready for. And so that's

where community comes in. And so I don't know if this question is in regards to last week's message.

...