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Singlehood as a Christian
1 Corinthians 7:1-2
Are you single? How do you view your singleness as a Christian? Do you view it as a unique station in life that God has placed you in? Or do you view it as a burden to bear or a problem to solve? Saint Paul in First Corinthians chapter seven tells us that being single is good. You might wonder how so? Well, there’s many people in our world that say being single is good because they say it means sexual freedom. It means that they can sleep around with whoever they want, whenever they want.
That is the exact opposite of what Saint Paul means when he tells us that being single is good. In fact, first Corinthians chapter seven, verse one tells us
Now concerning the things you wrote: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. But because of sexual sins, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband. (1 Corinthians 7:1-2 EHV)
God plainly tells us, while being single is good, if that sexual desire is so strong that it’s going to lead us to sin, it’s better for us to marry. Yet there are individuals that God has blessed with a special gift. They’re not so tempted to regularly fall into sexual sin. Individuals that are able to live a single life without falling into those sins that are so prevalent in society. And God encourages them in His Word in First Corinthians chapter seven especially, he wants them to view themselves as given a unique opportunity. And how so? Well, Saint Paul points out that married people have extra obligations that single people don’t.
Married people have obligations to a spouse, obligations to their children. Where single people don’t have such obligations, and therefore they have more time and more energy to dedicate to serving the Lord. If you are single, have you ever thought of it that way? That God is giving you an opportunity to serve him in your singleness and to really think, what are those things that I could do that maybe I couldn’t do if I was married. What are those ways that I can serve the Lord or serve his church?
Now, I know there are a lot of people, some that are happy being single and able to live out their lives as single people without giving much thought for marriage. But there are other people that really wish they were married, and maybe even resent God, that he has not yet given them a spouse to be married to. What about all of those people? Well, God would have you either way, whether you desire to be married or not, to view your singleness as a good thing and desire to live your life for him.
And how can you do that? Or why would you do that? Well, it’s good for us to think about Jesus. Jesus lived a single life for you, didn’t he? He used his singlehood or singleness to live a perfect and holy life, dedicated not to himself, but to others, to service of others, especially you and me, to even give that single life on a cross for all of our sins, whether they be sexual sins or resentment against God for the circumstances that he has placed us in. All of them were born upon his own shoulders as he was desiring to serve you with his entire life. And he encourages you now to live for him, to live your life, whether married or single, dedicated to the one who gave his life for you, knowing what he has accomplished through it eternal life.
And I want you to think about that eternal life. What does the Bible tell us that eternal life is going to be like? It’s going to be a single life, isn’t it? The Bible tells us that there is no marriage in heaven, but we are going to live our lives in heaven perfectly as single people, forever serving the Lord. May God help us to do exactly that even now, to live our lives for Christ, who has given his single life for us. Amen.
