Friends, let's talk about dating. But before we talk about how to date, we need to define what

dating is. It's about time, because we're going there.

Hi, friends. I'm your host, Bianco Wadis Ultaf, and I am passionate about love. And this whole week,

we are in a series entitled Love is. Why?

Because love has been so convoluted and hard to define by so many people.

And so we're rooting this out of an ancient passage, a letter, in fact, that my Bible boyfriend Paul wrote to his friends in Corinth.

And today I want to talk about dating.

And I want to root this in 1 Corinthians 13.5.

I'm going to put a little scripture on it because who does love a little Paul in the podcast?

So Paul says this, love does not dishonor others. It's not self-seeking. Love is not easily angered.

And love keeps no records of wrong. So let's talk about dating, but like I said, I think that we need

to define what dating is before we talk about how to date. So let's start with the fun fact that

dating is actually an American concept. Hashtay Merca, right? So for most of humanity, prior to the

1800s, parents would find a suitable person

for their child, and based on alliances or mutual benefits, and sometimes love, people would get

married. Y'all, it was very transactional. Around the turn of the century in American history and

culture, more autonomy was given in the choosing of a partner.

So let's say you'd be at a dance or at church or at a community function.

You would meet somebody and then the parents of one child would go up to the parents of the other child and they would have a conversation and invite them to the other person's house.

And the young man and the young woman would get to know each other.

Around the 1950s, this all began to change with the rise of individual independence and the

invention of the quote-unquote teenager. Literally, prior to the 50s, there was no such thing.

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