Relationships and Christianity

by Shereen
(United States)

I am a saved teenage girl with a Christian family, and I am not allowed to date. I am also Indian, and cultural traditions like arranged marriages also reinforce this idea. I've liked one of my friends for a few months, and about 2 weeks ago he asked me to be his girlfriend. My emotions were running high, and I gladly accepted. He has treated me amazingly, and we truly do care for each other as this is our first relationship. But I have had a growing sense of guilt in my heart because I have had to hide this relationship from my parents and delete messages that I receive from him (this hurts me as I hate to hide things from my family). I feel as if this guilt is blocking me from devoting myself to God. I've talked to my boyfriend about this, and he respects my feelings, but doesn’t want to leave me (I don’t want to leave him as well). He is not a Christian (although he's not affiliated with any religion), and I've been talking to him about the Lord and he seems to be receptive, but not serious about anything. I want to bring him to Christ very much, and I am praying for his salvation every day. I feel convicted to break up with him so I can better my relationship with the Lord, but I know that this would hurt my boyfriend deeply. I'm so worried that he may lose his interest in becoming a Christian because of our break up. He’s also going through many problems in his life with close relatives having cancer, and I’m praying for him. I feel that if I were to break up with him, it would crush him even more, and I just don’t want to impose that much pain on him when he’s already so burdened. And of course, I don’t want to be without him also. I realize that this relationship will not last, as I’m just a teenager, but I really do care for him. Can someone please offer me some advice on this?