I decided to go through the First Love study for young women with my girls for a few reasons. First, I wanted them to seek Jesus and know Him before seeking after a husband, or anything else in life, so they would include God in their decisions. Second, I wanted them to have Biblical views about sex and relationships. In seeking Jesus first and having Biblical views, they will know what God expects of them in their relationships, and their lives will fall into place according to God’s Word.

I asked my daughters and a few of their friends to participate. I told them that I would like to go through the study, and that I would like to start the following month. The reason I mentioned the study in advance was to give the girls time to think about and get used to the idea of going through the study for the next few months. Mentioning it early, along with the study being mentioned in church and being promoted by a trusted friend, had them agreeing to it. Also, the study is not incredibly time consuming, which makes it easy with their busy lives.

The study is not time consuming for the leader either. The Leader’s Guide really helps prepare for the weekly group meetings. These preparations do not take a long time, which is great because if the leader does not have much time, she can still lead. However, I’m finding that going through the study book with the girls is helpful, so that I can better understand what the girls are learning, and guide and teach in a more detailed way.

Even though we’re just getting started, I was excited to hear one of my students share with me that she felt the study was helping her have a personal relationship with God, instead of having only a church relationship with Him.