Love & Faithfulness

What we fail to see is that the intimacy we experience in out string of emotional hook-ups is counterfeit. Romantic passion is sweetest when it is growing out of a relationship that's deepening in devotion.
The joy of intimacy if the reward of commitment.
Throughout the Bible we see that the Little Relationshi Principle (above) is an important aspect of true love. In the Old Testament, God makes a covenant - a binding commitment - with the people of Israel so that they can know Him intimately. The institution of marriage is founded on the same principle. A man and woman become one flesh and enjoy the deepest intimacy with each other only after they have made a public promise to love each other for life.

Proverbs 3:3 - Let not mercy and truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart

God wants love and faithfulness to be connected. In His plan, the personal benefits of an intimate relationship - emotional or sexual - are always closely linked to self-sacrificial love and commitment to another person's long term good.
The way of sin is to diverce the two. In Proverbs 7 we read of the seductress, who lures her victim with the offer of romantic and sexual pleasures devoid of responsibility.

18 Come, let us take our fill of love until morning; Let us delight ourselves with love.

This is how sin works. It calls us to "enjoy ourselved with love" without  worrying about the good of others. It offfers intimaacy without obligation.
Pursuing intimacy without commitment awakens desires - emotional & physical - that neither person can justly meet. In 1 Thess 4:6 the Bible calls this "defrauding", ripping someone off by raising expectations but not delivering on the promise. Pastor Stephen Olford describes defrausding as "arousing hunger we cannot righteously satisfy" - promising something we can not or will not provide.

Intimacy without commitment, like icing without cake, can be sweet, but it ends up making us sick.