Now to the unmarried and widows I say: it is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion (1 Corinthians 7:8-9).

This verse is interesting. Paul wasn’t married? But as an adult male who was “advancing in Judaism” as he told the Galatians, he should have been married. Obviously, at the time he wrote this, he was not. So what happened? Did his wife die? Did she leave him because of his conversion to Christ? Was he the rare bachelor Jew? I don’t know, but I find the question interesting.

Back to the passage: Why does Paul say that the unmarried should stay unmarried, if they can handle it? Well, Beloved, singleness gives one an advantage in serving Christ. Your time, your energy, your finances–they are yours to spend as you wish. No one else has a claim on them, except God. You have the freedom to give and to go and to be whatever you choose. Given the unstable situation the Corinthians faced, this might have been the best bet. 

I hear some of you single folk out there thinking, “That’s it. I’ll never get married. God doesn’t want me to.” Be careful. Paul was speaking directly to the Corinthians, and only tangentially to you. Theory situation, and therefore their solution, was not yours.

There is a blessing in singleness. If you are single, enjoy the blessing and employ the blessing. But don’t assume that your singleness is forever. 

God has a tendency to surprise us.

Happy Monday, Beloved.