My First Crush

As I watched him play Temple Run on his phone, my heart skipped a beat. I knew in my heart of hearts, in that moment, we were destined to be together, or so I thought.

Here's a little bit of backstory. I was homeschooled growing up, which meant that there were slim pickings in the boys department. It was between boys from my homeschool gatherings or boys from church, and my family went to a small church growing up where there were only two boys around my age. One boy was not even close to an option for me, seeing how he was barely ever at church, and the other boy was so far out of my league that, of course, I was obsessed with him.

As I discuss in episode 23 of my podcast (Let's Talk about Boys), Dominic was the center of my universe, so to speak. I thought about him more than I did anything else, or rather, I thought about what he thought about me. When my friends and I would spend time together, we'd talk about him, and that would take up the majority of the time. Here comes the embarrassing part. He didn't even like me! In fact, we barely ever spoke. I can't remember one significant conversation I ever had with the boy, but it didn't matter because I had made an idol out of him.

When you hear the word idol, it can be easy to blow it out of proportion. It sounds like too big of a word to use for something as simple as a boy, but the truth is, you can turn anything into an idol: TV, books, and even church. According to desiringgod.org, an idol is described as, "anything that is given undue love, importance, or reliance, taking the place of God in someone's heart. It can be a physical object like a statue, but it also encompasses any object, concept, or person that is prioritized above God in one's life."

The more I replaced my thoughts with Dominic, the less I was thinking about my relationship with Christ. Now, I want to make myself VERY clear. It's completely normal to have feelings for boys and to crave their attention. God has made us to be relational creatures, but He doesn't want us to replace that relationship with the one we have with Him.

It can be fun to text your crush, hang out with him, and even talk about him with your friends, but are you replacing God with your crush? Are you looking to your crush to define who you are and how you'll act, or are you looking to God? Are you looking for validation from your crush or God?

As you think about the boy you're crushing on, ask yourself the questions above, and make sure that you're valuing your relationship with Christ over your relationship with a boy. Don't forget to have fun, take chances, but always put God first.