22/365 Early faith and dating

My faith definitely shaped the way I viewed dating. My parents had encouraged abstinence till marriage (what parent doesn't, really?) but the church really drove that one home. We had True Love Waits seminars, countless lectures on the dangers of sex and impurity and over and over again were asked to commit to a pure, sexless life until the wedding night. 

How could that not alter the way someone views dating? 

My personality is naturally monogamous though, so I wasn't terribly boy crazy. I wasn't really interested in having a boy friend until high school. My first serious relationship began there and lasted nearly 4 years. 

But even the idea of dating was difficult one. One of the things we were taught as teenagers was the dangers of dating someone who didn't share your beliefs. A non-Christian would be a bad influence we were told. They would want you to have sex, do drugs, party, and generally pull you away from a Godly lifestyle. 

We were even given scripture to back it up:

2 Corinthians 6:14 - Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.

The full passage says:

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?

Basically, the way it was taught to us over and over, was that having a dating relationship with a non-believer would drag you down.  You would loose your desire to follow God and make mistakes. Often people asked, "but why couldn't my faith pull that other person up?". The answer to that was simply that it wouldn't. 

How did that impact me? Well, I had a hard time figuring out the application. Because the truth is, I've never met anyone, male or female, who felt exactly the same way I did about God. My feelings, thoughts, concerns are uniquely mine. As far as spiritual practices, should I limit my dating pool to only people who read the Bible as much as I do, no more no less? Or attend church as much as I do? Or pray as much? 

How do you measure that?

I decided to seek to date people who exemplified the same qualities I enjoyed - kindness, humor, honesty. I can say I was happy with my choices - but often guilt-ridden when I was questioned whether my boyfriend was "strong in his faith".