Singleness: God’s Assignment
For the first time in American history, over half of all adults are single. 60% of adults under 40 have never been married (2016 US Census Bureau). Couples marrying today have a 40% chance of getting divorced. 87% of separated couples go on to get a divorce. 80% of the widowed population are women. Twelve million are single parents with kids at home (80% women). Singles are a diverse group. Like everyone, they long to give and receive love.
Three Reasons to Remain Single:
Because the
“Now for the matters you wrote about. It is good for a man not to marry.” —I Corinthians 7:1
Ancient Corinth was dominated by the Temple of Aphrodite which housed a thousand temple prostitutes. In his two letters to the Corinthian church Paul answers their many questions about sexual sin, including a man who was immoral with his father’s wife (I Corinthians 5).
14 of the first 15 Roman Emperors were homosexuals.
“Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders…will inherit the kingdom of God.” —I Corinthians 6:9
“Flee sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.” —I Corinthians 6:18
Sexual sin is inherently self-destructive. One way to avoid this is celibacy (abstaining from sex). Marital faithfulness is also pleasing to God.
“He who finds a wife finds a good thing.” —Proverbs 18:22
Unlike eating, drinking, and sleeping, the sexual drive doesn’t need to be exercised. By abstaining you can sidestep a stumbling block that has tripped up countless millions. If you marry, your body now also belongs to your spouse (I Corinthians 7:2-6). The two are to become one flesh in an honorable way by cherishing and respecting each other.
Because
“I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs – how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world – how he can please his wife – and his interests are divided.” —I Corinthians 7:32-34
Any spouse will find themselves investing their lives in that which is important to their partner.
“Where you go I will go and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” —Ruth 1:16-17
Be very cautious before you marry as many have deep regrets from making a poor choice. Take off your “rose-colored glasses” for “a woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives.” I Corinthians 7:39.
Because the
“What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short.” —I Corinthians 7:29
Our lives on this earth are both uncertain and brief.
“You do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” —James 3:14
Make your life count for eternity! We are not to get hung up on earthly pursuits for it will all perish (II Peter 3:7). Even marriage itself will pass away. In heaven “people will neither marry nor be given in marriage.” Matthew 22:30.
“Eye has not seen, nor ear has heard, neither has it entered the heart of any man, the things which God has prepared for those who love him.” —I Corinthians 2:9
In our culture today, we prize sexual experience, getting married, and having kids. But nothing in this life will even come close to what we will experience in the next life (Revelation 21-22).
“Now we see through a glass dimly; then we shall see face to face. Now we know in part; then we shall know fully even as we are fully known.” —I Corinthians 13:12
If you were to move to a new community where everyone had experienced something you had not, you may struggle with FOMO (fear of missing out). The Bible assures us that we can live a fulfilling life without sex, marriage, or having kids. Jesus did, and so did the Apostle Paul. But you do need Jesus! If you miss out on him, you miss out on everything!