I have a boyfriend whom I like to talk to on the phone. We do not have bad conversation we’re just friends. Is this sinful or bad behavior?
His Grace Bishop Youssef:
I want you to ask yourself what do you mean, “We’re just friends”? What does this friendship give you that no other same sex friendship can give?
As a Christian, when you are about to make friends with someone, you should ask yourself, is Jesus Christ the center of this relationship? Would He bless it? Am I growing in grace and faith?
In a relationship involving the opposite gender, what starts out as just innocent conversation that seems harmless, after a while turns by nature into intimacy and seclusion from others, private talks and discussion of secrets, and sharing things that you would not normally share with anyone else. These are the steps when opposite gender friendship loses the true meaning of friendship and is taken to a different level that cannot any longer be recognized as simple friendship.
The danger of having such a relationship is that by the very nature of sin itself, one can easily be tempted knowingly and unknowingly. Within opposite gender relationships one could readily find themselves in a position of submitting to this temptation, finding it hard to resist the desires and the lusts of our weak nature. This risk does not exist in same-gender- spiritually enriching relationships.
