Singleness and How to Wear it Well
As an unmarried person, you have distinct opportunities to grow in your faith and to make a substantial contribution to the kingdom. In fact, the season you’re in has the potential to be the most formative period of your life. How can you best honor God in this time? Many Christians wonder if they should move toward marriage or embrace the kind of single life the apostle Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 7. In order to evaluate your situation, ask yourself a question..
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First and foremost, we are called to be the bride of Christ. If there is not a specific call on your life to pursue either singleness or marriage, you must pursue Christ. He is our Father and Friend, but also our lover. Keeping your eyes on Christ is the most important relationship in this season. You are still to seek fellowship and practice purity to honor the temple of Christ that is in you. As we see demonstrated through the relationship of Hosea and Gomer, Jesus loves us intensely and intentionally.
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In the scriptures God calls adults to follow one of two callings—either a path to Biblical marriage or a life of celibacy (Genesis 2, 1 Corinthians 7). The best way to honor God in your singleness is to be intentionally set apart for His purposes.
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If you have prayerfully sought out the Lord’s guidance and feel called to singleness, this means that you are forgoing marriage and sex without bitterness. Serving God in singleness means engaging in the body of Christ- giving and receiving fellowship- is vitally important. The call to singleness is a purposeful lifestyle devoted to your relationship with the Lord first and others second.
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If you have prayerfully sought out the Lord’s guidance and feel called to marriage, this means you must move forward with hopeful expectation for a spouse. It entails a dedication to prayer, purity, and fellowship. For men it means moving beyond passivity and taking initiative to “leave and cleave” (Genesis 2:24) and to “find” a wife (Proverbs 18:22) and to pursue purity.. For women, it means preparing for marriage in prudence (Proverbs 19:14), purity (Ephesians 4:11-16) and prayer (Matthew 7:7-9).
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