Whole in One #2: Acknowledge Singleness As Good

Say what??? Yes, when I first heard, “Accept Singleness as Good,” I too said to myself, No way!

You may be lonely, bored, frustrated or restless—forgetting that you have remarkable freedom in many areas. Freedom from many constraints on time, freedom to choose a simple lifestyle, freedom to focus on the things that are important to you, freedom to develop friendships and interests, freedom to serve God without distraction. Would it help you to know that some of your married friends envy your freedom!

Single women can have pink sheets on the bed if they want to! Fellows can leave the seat up all the time! Either can have chocolate cake for breakfast and adjust the thermostat to the perfect level and roll the bathroom tissue the “right” way. (I am only partly joking.) But seriously, we need to look at what the Scripture has to say.

Several times in I Corinthians 7, the Apostle Paul assures us that single living is, in fact, good. Verse 1 says, “It is good for a man not to marry.” (NIV) We read in verse 8, “Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am.” (NIV) And verse 26 urges, “Because of the current pressures on us from all sides, I think it would probably be best to stay just as you are.” (MSG) He further adds in verse 35, “I am saying this for your benefit, not to place restrictions on you. I want you to do whatever will help you serve the Lord best, with as few distractions as possible.” (NLT) Your singleness, and mine, is an advantage allowing you personally to choose the focus of your energies. It can be used in wonderful ways for your own benefit and it can be profitable for the Kingdom as well. Most of all, your love and loyalty can bring joy to the heart of the Lord.

“God sees your singleness as a positive, not a negative. You are not second class, nor are you something less than [is] a married Christian. Christ was single. Paul may have been married at one time, but it certainly sounds like he was single when he wrote this letter. Being single allows you to focus your life completely on God. Accept singleness as being something good.”

More thoughts next time.

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Thanks to Dr. David Jeremiah (Turning Point) for permission to use the outline of his radio sermon on I Corinthians 7 and quotes from his book Core Vales of the Church: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, Volume 2. Many years ago during an extended period of singleness, these were a great help to me.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scripture marked MSG taken from The Message. Copyright © 2003 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. Scripture quotation marked NLT is taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com