Single In Christ

But I want you to be without care.  He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord - how he may please the Lord.  But he who is married cares about the things of the world - how he may please his wife.  There is a difference between a wife and a virgin.  The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both both in body and in spirit.  But she who is married cares about the  things of the world - how she may please her husband.   And this I say for  your own profit, not that I may put a leash on you, but for what is proper, and that you may serve the Lord without distraction.
1 Corinthians 7: 32-35 NKJV

I take alot of flak from my married friends who tell me that I don't know just how fortunate I am to be single.  Usually, my first reaction is to take a look at their lives and see just where they are on their path.  Are they really that bad off?  They have another to share their life with.  Yes, along with that comes the usual life struggles, but I believe that this is all part of our Lords plan for when he brings two people together.  For the most part, the very same struggles that I  carry are also carried by these freinds of mine with the exception being that they must share and experience them with someone else.  If it is this that makes me lucky or fortunate, then so be it.   Personally, I cannot see too much of a difference in the lives of myself and my married friends except for the fact that they share their life with someone else.  Now, in 1 Corinthians 7, the apostle Paul had a different take on this situation.  I rarely have a argument with this venerable old apostle, but here I may take issue.  As Paul tells it those who are married care for the things of the world, while we who remain single care for things of the Lord.  Really, Paul?  While I am grateful for your compliment of me by saying that I care of the things of the Lord, I may tend to disagree with you just a bit.  For I know more than a few Godly christian married men who care deeply for the things of the Lord.

I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress - that it is good for a man to remain as he is:  Are you bound to a wife?  Do not seek to be loosed.  Are you loosed from a wife?  Do not seek a wife.  But then if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned.  Nevertheless such will have trouble in the flesh, but I would spare you.
1 Corinthians 7: 26-28 NKJV

Thanks again Paul!  Now, I would mention here that our dear friend Paul was never married, so his opinion may have been skewed just a bit.  However, at the same time I can understand his teaching here.  His warnings to those who marry to not lose their focus on the things of God are well taken.  However, as I've said, I am aware of many Godly marriages that have not lost sight of the things of the Lord.  It is here where I see a contradiction in Pauls warning.  Now, our flesh is a funny thing within us.  For even the most Godly among us deal with their flesh on a daily basis.  For it is a very Godly person who will keep his flesh in submission to Christ. There are many married, Godly people among us who serve our Lord without distraction.  So, where does that leave me, Paul?  I have a Godly heart.  I am not married, but at times I still worry over the things of this world.  I thought our man Paul claimed that this was just for those married people among us?  Point taken, Paul.

And the LORD God caused a dep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.  Then the rib which tthe LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman,  and He brought her to the man.  And Adam said:  "This is  now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called woman, Because she was taken out of man."  Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Genesis 2: 21-24 NKJBV

I find it interesting that the definition of the word woman is "From man," which is exactly what our Lord did as He created her.  For from within the body of Adam came a "Helper" compable to him.  Another thing that I also find interesting for this discussion is that our institution of marriage is not from God, but a man made tradition.  Simply put, a ceremony to satisfy not only ourselves, but those around us, that two people have been joined together.  I get it, we need something to solidify our own belief that God has brought two people together.  However, our Lord needs no such confirmation.  So, in regards to this institution of marriage, who's desires are we following?  Yes, we may love and cherish our wife/spouse, but do we really need a ceremony to solidify this?  It is not God, but society that views the union between a man and a woman this way.
In defense of my being single and unmarried, my desire still remains to seek the things of my Lord God.  Yes, there will be distractions that will challange me, but these are the very same distractions faced by those I know who are married.  I think that I will challange Pauls belief that I should remain as I am.  For despite this dissention, I remain in Christ.

~Scott~