This is really interesting because I was raised not to show ANY signs of interest in a man before he does. I was told it isn't ladylike and that if a man really is interested in me, he would do the chasing. I'm not saying I want someone like Noah from The Notebook, doing crazy stunts to get my attention, but to start talking to me would be nice. I'm even afraid to talk to guys to be honest. I just don't want to come off as annoying or out there. Plus I'm naturally very shy and socially awkward. LOL
Men are supposed to lead the women, it's biblical. I suppose the first sign of his leadership ability is to take the initiative to talk to the girl first.
As I started typing out this post, I realized that I have so many random thoughts about this, so hopefully I organized them somewhat well.
I'm not trying to rag on you at all, Molly, but this is one thing that bothers me when it comes to dating. When a woman intentionally doesn't show interest in a guy, not only is that acting dishonestly, but she's really playing a game. It's no different than the way guys make it into a game with all of these tips on how to get a girl--not calling or texting for two days after the date and such. It's all silliness. Fellas, if you want to go out on a date with a girl, ask her out on a date. If you want to go out with her again, ask her for another date. Ladies, if you'd like to go out on a date with him, say yes. If you don't, say no. It really doesn't have to be that complicated.
And yes, men by all means
should lead and initiate a relationship, but we also have to acknowledge that there is nothing in the Bible about dating because dating is a relatively new practice. That means, and I just feel this needs to be said, that it is not sinful for a woman even to ask a man out, let alone throw some hints his way, but I would also say that if a relationship is initiated by the woman, that relationship has started off on the wrong foot.
The last thing I'll say is that the man should pursue the woman, but the concept of pursuit doesn't have to be all weird. When I think of pursuit, I think of pursuing a woman's heart. So no, she's not running away and I'm not some type of animal trying to catch her. It's that she is a person full of beauty and worth created by God in His image, and she was created, as we all are, to be known and loved for the beautiful person that God created her to be. So the pursuit, then, is really to go after her heart and to know her deeply. As you progress through a relationship from friendship to dating to engagement to marriage, a man then has the privilege of getting to know her more and more deeply and intimately. And just as God perfectly communicates our worth to all of us through His pursuit of us, so we as men each have the opportunity to, albeit imperfectly, communicate to a certain woman her worth to us if she is able and willing to receive it. They say that love is selfless, and even that initiation is an opportunity to be selfless as we put aside our prideful fear of rejection in order to communicate to someone else what they mean to us. It is scary, no doubt, but hopefully we won't let fear, past rejection, or past mistakes deny someone else the opportunity to know that they are treasured. (It helps when your reasons for entering into a relationship are selfless too.)
As I said before, I believe that God created women with deep beauty, and he has given men an eye for that beauty. Unfortunately there are a lot of loud voices in our world that try to spread to everyone else their own distorted view of what beauty is, and there are other things in the world that have tragically distorted what beauty is in the eyes of men, but that's another topic for a different thread.