I was re-reading parts of "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" by Joshua Harris, and it got me thinking again. When God said to love others like you would love yourself, that INCLUDES romantic relationships. I never thought about it until I read this book, but it's so true that God gave us people of the opposite sex for a reason. It's not JUST for sex or pleasure. It's to prepare yourself in your singleness to love others the way God wanted us to. : )

One part of loving others as yourself is exercising self-control, and not taking a piece of your heart and giving it carelessly to short-term relationships. I recall reading about this girl who had a dream about her wedding day. It was supposed to be glorious. BUt at the alter, her fiance's ex-girlfriends all piled up at the front because her fiance carelessly gave each girl a piece of his heart. It made the girl wonder how much of HER heart would be less for her husband if she kept on giving parts of her heart to other guys without thinking long-term.

I believe that is a good thing to ponder about. Love is more than just pleasure, make-out sessions, or sex. It's also about being in love the way GOD envisioned it to be- pure, endearing, blameless, unselfish.... : ) It's about putting other people's needs first before ourselves. And in romantic relationships, most people think of "ME" instead of THEM. Have you ever stopped to think what YOUR selfish actions could do to another person? E.g. Having sex before marriage due to impatience takes away from the other person their virginity, their purity, and it causes them and YOU to sin against God.
Just something to keep in mind : D