Partner?
With the World Surrounding you, are you Tempted to have a “Partner”?
You and I have both heard or read it again and again. We see constant reminders of this in the media and elsewhere. Just a few minutes ago I read it again. The term “partner” has come to mean what the dictionary says it does but something much more sinister and bad. We know what this means.
A partner is one who “shares or is associated with another in some action or endeavor; associate.” The dictionary goes on defining the term: “husband, wife, lover.” (Random House Webster’s College Dictionary). It is this definition that I wish to land on here. We might recognize that a person has a husband or a wife. We might also recognize that a person has a joint endeavor with someone or is an associate with another. But is it right to refer to a “non-wife” or a “non-husband” as a “partner” if one is not living with him or her?
Today, immoral people refer to a “lover” or a boyfriend or a girlfriend as a “partner.” In fact, these people may actually be “living with” such a person, living with a “partner”—unmarried and living in fornication. We may wrongly assume that the male and female involved in such a relationship are not living under the same roof, in separate bedrooms, although—sadly—we suppose that this may be the case.
We encourage you to look up “boyfriend” and “girlfriend” at our website: www.Truediscipleship dot com.
Keep in mind that the Bible is quite clear that a male and a female are not to engage in premarital relations. They are not to have sex before marriage (to be quite plain and even explicit). This is something that is reserved for marriage, according to God. He says that a man and woman may become one and marry and this relationship is for life. They may occasionally talk before marriage but they absolutely must not have any sexual relations. In fact, some go so far as to say that they should not touch (touch their hands, touch their bodies, or touch anything else—1 Corinthians 7:1-2). Whether this means not having any contact whatsoever is somewhat questionable, but at least they are not to have any sexual contact at all.
This is why one reason would be that “partner” must never be used in an improper way. Two young people (or older people) are to have no sexual contact before marriage. They are not “partners” in this sense, in the sense of being a husband and wife. In this sense, they are not “partners” even though millions do use this term in America, in the Western World, and probably in the world. They are not really “partners” in this sense. Let them be interested people, those who are “interested” in each other, with the help and guidance of their parents and with the help and guidance of elders or overseers in the body of Christ. But beyond this, they must not go.
There are millions and millions of people who would be able to give a testimony of wrongful contact that led them wrongly. This is so sad. And it is wrong. They are not “partners” in this sense.
See:
www.truediscipleship dot com.