Confessions of a Flirting Queen

                                                                    By: Bethany Baird

Where it all began.

I was in sixth grade and knew exactly how to work it. Every girl at church camp liked the same guy and I was determined to get his attention.

He was cute, popular and I wanted nothing less than for him to like me. I wasn’t interested in a relationship or anything serious because I was only 12 years old. I just liked the way I felt when I had his attention.

I clearly remember the situation. We were playing knock out (a basketball game) on the camp sports court. I made my shot and then went in to lure my prey. I ran over towards him with my flirty face ready to go and grabbed the green bandana from around his neck.

Was I cool or what?!? I now had “Mr. Popular Boy’s” bandana and we were in a steal and chase game. Naturally he started chasing after me trying to get his bandana back or to steal mine. He was laughing, I was smiling and life felt good.

I had his attention and the other girls were jealous. Major score!

That is until I left camp, made it home and needed more attention. Mr. Popular was gone and I was back at ground zero. Life was boring and I needed another boy to make me feel good.

The flirting continues.

I wish I could tell you that my flirting started and stopped with me being 12 years old, but that’s just simply not true. My days of flirting really continued until I graduated from high school and started thinking seriously about guys and romance.

If I were left to myself I would most likely still be the “Flirting Queen.” Thankfully God didn’t leave me to myself. Due to the incredible insight and wisdom of my parents and close friends, I was finally able to see the truth about flirting.

I’m definitely not perfect and continue to grow and learn every day, but I am grateful to say that I’ve come a long way in this area.

Do you enjoy flirting?

If you (like me) are a “flirting queen” or just enjoy a good flirt here and there, this post is for you. Even if you’ve never flirted a day in your life keep reading.

As silly as that little story I just told sounds, it brings out a great point. Think this through with me. In my personal experience flirting typically has one person in mind – ME! I’m doing it to make ME feel good, to make ME look popular, to give ME something to brag about.

When I think back on my flirting moments (which I am not proud of), I have to confess that each of one them was very self-focused. In the moment I was truly only concerned about one person, me.

As embarrassing as this is to confess, I really did flirt because I liked what I got out of it. I liked the attention I got from guys and it was an easy way to give myself an ego boost. I enjoyed having guys “like” me and I liked have someone/something to think about as I fell asleep. *Wow! That’s a lot of I’s*.

With that being said, I want to share with you my current take on flirting and why I’m no longer striving to be the flirting queen.

Here is a quick dictionary definition of the word flirting:

According to the Merriam-Webster, flirting is to:

• behave without serious intent.
• to show superficial or casual interest or liking.

The word is also synonymous with the word trifle, which means something of little value.

Hmmm, according to that definition flirting doesn’t sound very thoughtful or loving. It sounds pretty…well…selfish. When I stop and evaluate flirting with that definition in mind, I realize how selfish my days of flirting really were. They were without serious intent and were totally superficial and casual.

I wasn’t concerned about building the guy up as my brother in Christ. I wasn’t concerned about his heart and protecting him. I wasn’t concerned about pointing his eyes towards Christ. Nope, not at all. I was truly only concerned about one thing, me.

Giving up on the flirting game.

As I thought through this topic, I kept coming back to one verse. It really clinched my heart. Check it out:

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4).

Yikes! My flirting has always been totally selfish. It’s not been with the guys in mind but with me in mind.

Now that I am a grown Christian woman who understands God’s Word and understands that I am a daughter of the King of the Universe, I can’t continue on in ignorance. That verse says to do nothingfrom selfish ambition. I’m pretty sure that “do nothing from selfish ambition” would include flirting.

Why do you flirt?

Okay, enough of my confessions and flirting stories. I want to focus on you. Ask yourself this simple question: why do you flirt?

Be honest with yourself. Think back to a time when you have flirted and ask yourself why you did it. What’s going on in your mind and in your heart when you’ve flirted with a guy?

• Was your goal to build him up in Christ or was it to pull his attention and affections towards you?
• Were you concerned about his feelings and his heart? Or, were you concerned about making yourself feel good?
• What happened when the flirting moment was over? Did you find lasting satisfaction from that moment?
• Can you honestly say that God was glorified from the different times you flirted?
• How does Philippians 2:3-4 match up with your excuses for flirting?

Photo credit: www.flickr.com | ohwaitnvm

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