When Hazel calls for a man who calls himself godly, she’s prepared to follow his rules in the name of love. But the deeper she bends, the more she begins to break, until one devastating moment shatters everything. What follows is her quiet, powerful return to truth, freedom, and herself.
I was 25 when I thought I’d finally found someone good. His name was Elias. He was 27, calm, handsome, and carried himself with quiet certainty, the kind of presence that made people lean in a little closer…
and listen a little longer. We met at a small Bible study group hosted in a friend’s apartment. He stood out immediately.
He was always quoting scripture, and always steering the room back to God. He always seemed too sure of everything. For the first time in years, I let myself picture a future with someone.
A life built on faith, shared values, and peace. It all felt safe and solid, like maybe this time, I wouldn’t be left bruised or disappointed. Elias made it seem like he was above all that, like he answered to something higher than impulse or ego.
But looking back, I can see how I ignored the unease. The way his praise always came with conditions. The way he talked about other women, too loud, too flashy, too much.
“You don’t want to be the kind of woman men stare at, Hazel,” he said after a service one day. “You want to be the one they respect.”
At the time, I thought it was wisdom. Maybe even love.
It wasn’t long before Elias sat me down and explained what he called the “guardrails of a holy courtship.” He never used the word rules, but that’s exactly what they were, a list of expectations that left little room for me to be anything but small.
He began carefully, as if he were offering a gift. He even made me a cup of tea and offered me chocolate-covered shortbread. “Hazel,” he said, “I need you to take this conversation seriously.”
I nodded.
I didn’t know where he was going with this, but I wanted to see what he had in store for our lives.
“There will be no physical contact before marriage, Hazel,” he said. “Not even kissing. That kind of intimacy is reserved for your husband in private.”
“Wait, Elias…
not even a kiss?”
He smiled like he’d rehearsed that very moment a hundred times before. “It’s for your own good, sweetheart. Kissing leads to other things, and we don’t want to fall into temptation, do we?
The story doesn’t end here –
it continues on the next page.
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