Oh gosh. I was involved in GCM my whole life, so I knoe this issue very well! I clearly remember being in highschool, probably 16, and having a secret boyfriend at my school, and being brought to tears with guilt after going to his house and watching a movie, nothing else, just a movie. I broke up with him cause the guilt was too much. I had to confess to my parents, my youth pastor, and the youth group, the crime of holding hands in the halls. My senior year of high school I was a little more free, I still never officially dated anyone though(but high school drama clubs are full of
Promiscuous games and behavior, and I am REALLY good at flirting). I was celibate for a couple years in college, until a couple years ago. I met a guy, and went out to the movies with him, ended up making out the whole time. I was severely chastised for this, and the guilt was too much. in the end, the restrictions placed on dating pushed me to be even more promiscuous, often meeting guys online for the express purpose of hooking up... I don't mean to blame shift, but we all know when you give adult people too many rules and restrictions, it just ends up pushing them to a bad place. Anyway, I eventually got myself back on track, having abbandoned the church and their rules, and I am SO GLAD I started normal dating, it taught to value myself, and what standards I really need to have for a relationahip, it let me know how I wanted to be treated.... Something GCM didnt cover. I also met my awesome boyfriend who treats me so much better than I ever imagined