Three Kinds of Singles:
1. Single by Creation
1 Corinthians 7:7, TLB
I wish everyone could get along without marrying, just as I do. But we are not all the same. God gives some the gift of a husband or wife, and others he gives the gift of being able to stay happily unmarried.
2. Single by Circumstance
1 Corinthians 7:15, NLT
(But if the husband or wife who isn’t a believer insists on leaving, let them go. In such cases the believing husband or wife is no longer bound to the other, for God has called you to live in peace.)
3. Single by Choice
Matthew 19:12, NLT
Some are born as eunuchs, some have been made eunuchs by others, and some choose not to marry for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven.
I. The Blessings of The Single Life
1. Singles Generally Have Less Distress
1 Corinthians 7:25-31, NRSV
Now concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. I think that, in view of the impending crisis, it is good for you to remain as you are. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a
wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a virgin marries, she does not sin. Yet those who marry will experience distress in the flesh, and I would spare you that. I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even
those who have wives be as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.
2. Singles Generally Have Less Distractions
1 Corinthians 7:32-35, NRSV
I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord, but the married man is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin are anxious about the affairs of the Lord, so that they may be holy in body and spirit, but the married woman is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to put any restraint upon you but to promote good order and unhindered devotion to the Lord.
II. The Burdens of The Single Life
1. The Burden Of Passion
1 Corinthians 7:8-9, NKJV
But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am; but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, NKJV
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality. Each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God.
1 Thessalonians 4:8, NLT
Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 5:11, NKJV
But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.
2 Timothy 2:21, NLT
If you keep yourself pure, you will be a utensil God can use for his purpose. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.
2. The Burden of Pain
Psalm 25:16, NIV
Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.
3. The Burden Of Patience
Genesis 2:18, NKJV
And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
2 Corinthians 6:14, NIV
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?
1 Corinthians 7:39, NIV
A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord.
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