It was the fall of 1973 and I was attending my first year at Santa Monica City College. Among the classes I took was German IV. The professor liked me because my German was fluent, and she asked me to be a tutor for her students. One of my first students was a young man named Jason. As I tutored him in German each week, he became very friendly and one week he told me that he liked me and wanted me to be his girlfriend. I was shocked! Without a doubt, I knew this was a trap of the enemy.

I asked him, “Why would you want to date a 'plain Jane' girl like me? I wear long skirts. I don’t wear mini-skirts and the latest styles, and I don’t use jewelry or make-up.”

He said to me something I will never forget, “The girls you describe are easy to get. They display their bodies for all to see. I don’t want a girl like that. You are modest and mysterious. I want a girl like you.”

I told Jason, “I am sorry, but I can’t date you. I am a Christian, a Seventh Day Adventist, and I can only date young men who have the same Biblical beliefs as I, and who are members of my church.”

“That’s great,” he said. "It doesn’t matter that you’re a Christian. I’d like to have a girl just like you.”

I learned two things from that experience. The devil is on the tracks of each young person, trying to get them to compromise and make a partnership with an unbeliever. But notice how he also made it sound like Jason wanted a modest Christian girl. I could have thought, “Oh wow! Maybe I could convert him to my church.” But thank God, I had no such thoughts. I later learned that my German professor knew he liked me, and she had arranged for me to tutor him. After learning this information, I decided to quit my job. I thank God for the guidelines He has given us in His word whom we should and should not date. (Read 1 Corinthians 6:14.)

Dear youth, it is our wish and prayer that you allow Jesus Christ, the lover of your soul, to be the Captain of your life ship, and you will sail safely through the calm seas and the storms of life!

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

—Liliane Balbach