Be grateful for who you are in Christ! We affirm that race doesn’t matter to God, age doesn’t matter, status doesn’t matter, even gender doesn’t matter. But then we let marital status matter! The Apostle Paul said in regard to “differences”: “Were you Jewish at the time God called you? [i.e. circumcised] Don't try to remove the evidence. Were you non-Jewish at the time of your call? Don't become a Jew. Being Jewish isn't the point. The really important thing is obeying God's call, following his commands.” (I Corinthians 7:18, 19) Loving God, keeping His commandments—that’s what matters. The Scriptures speak of being mature, perfect, entire, whole. Those are words for each of us as individuals, not contingent upon being part of a couple. For however long you are assigned to your position as a single—the rest of this month, or this year and the next, or a lifetime—rejoice that God has made you complete in Him!
It takes a good deal of courage to establish and cling to one’s identity as a single person in a society whose institutions, including churches, are geared heavily toward the family, even though the structure of “family” varies hugely. It takes a good dose of motivation to be self-reliant when one is surrounded by others whose burdens are eased to some degree by interdependency on one another. Single adults must sometimes try harder, persevere longer, cope with more subtle discrimination, exhibit more strength and patience, and establish more impressive credentials in order to reap the same rewards and benefits as their married counterparts.
The desirable traits to be developed as a single person should be evidenced by all Christians, but they are singularly impressive in the life of a single person. It is a special joy, even a wonderment to many, to behold the single who does not suffer from feelings of incompleteness for want of a companion, the single who takes personal action to fill the empty places in life (which practically every person, single or married has!) without bemoaning the failure of others to do it for him or her, the single who is well-rounded, productive, and content. For this kind of single adult, marriage, if it does one day come, is an enrichment of an already meaningful life.
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 taken from The Message. Copyright © 2003 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment