SESSION 1 FOLLOWING YOUR HEART WITHOUT LOSING YOUR MIND

Building a healthy relationship while getting to know the crucial areas of a dating partner require the head and heart to work together. Learn about how the RAM provides a picture of the major bonds that comprise your relationships (know, trust, rely, commit and touch), and provides an understanding of how you can intentionally guard your heart while exploring the best predictors of what a partner will really be like in a long-term relationship.

SESSION 2 EXPLORING THE INFLUENCES OF FAMILY BACKGROUND

There are five major areas, captured in the acronym FACES, to really get to know in a dating partner and that will reveal the character and relationship potential of that person. The first, Family Background (F), includes what they took from how the family expressed love and affection, shared power, and divided responsibilities in their family roles. The family background of the Old Testament life of Joseph provides insights into the ways to resolve unhealthy family experiences.

SESSION 3 EXPLORING THE HEALTH OF THE CONSCIENCE AND THE POTENTIAL FOR COMPATIBILITY

The second area to get to know involves the attitudes and actions of the conscience (A). The Bible describes different types of consciences (overly sensitive, hardened, healthy), and warns that the ways that someone will act in a relationship is strongly related to the functioning of their conscience. Learn how to detect the health of a dating partner’s conscience, while also exploring the third area, the potential for compatibility (C) in your personalities, values and lifestyles.

SESSION 4 EXPLORING THE EXAMPLES OF SCRIPTS AND SKILLS IN A RELATIONSHIP

The fourth area to get to know in dating is the relationship scripts found in the examples (E) of how a dating partner acts in all their other relationships. The final area to explore is the development of relationship skills (S) like openness in communication and the ability to resolve differences in a graceful way.

SESSION 5 BUILDING A SAFE TRUST AND A MUTUAL RELIANCE IN A RELATIONSHIP

This session builds on the five areas to get to know by providing a plan for how to safely build trust while developing a mutual reliance. Learn about the 90-day probation period, how to gauge the reliability of a dating partner, and the ways that you can use the RAM to build your relationship at a pace that guards your heart and keeps your eyes wide open.

SESSION 6 HONORING THE BONDING POWER OF COMMITMENT AND TOUCH

God designed the sexual relationship to create a strong bond between partners, and to occur within the covenant of marriage. This session explains the biology behind this theology of the bonding power of sexual intimacy, and explores the practical benefits of setting sexual boundaries during dating. And although living together outside of marriage has become a social norm, serious risks are described, along with the value of the institution of marriage.