Pairing Off: Pairing Off: Counsel for Latter-day Saint singles on kissing

The same is true with passionate kissing. If you keep your kissing free from lust, you’re very unlikely to experience a hormonal override of rational thought. Additionally, your relationship is more likely to maintain a balance of emotional, spiritual and physical aspects. I think this is sort of the point of Jesus’ admonition that “whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” Physical attraction is, of course, all well and good, but lending undue gravity to physical attraction can shift a relationship’s focus and stunt its emotional and spiritual progress.

I’m not going to go into any more detail or define lust for you. What I will say, though, is that I am grateful to have a prophet who cares enough about young single adults to provide us with dating standards. What a blessing it is to have guidelines that help us keep the spirit of the Lord with us in such weighty matters as dating and marriage.

Julia Shumway grew up in Centerville, Utah, and is studying maternal and child epidemiology at the University of Minnesota. Her column, “Pairing Off,” explores the intricacies of the Mormon YSA experience. She’d love for you to contact her with your dating stories, questions and complaints at jshumway@mormontimes.com.