For many, being single is okay. They\u2019re fine with that. They might be young enough that they haven\u2019t even started thinking about marriage or starting a family, and they want to wait for college, or when they are more financially stable, but for many singles, the holidays are a time of gloom and doom. \u00a0Holidays are one thing they don\u2019t look forward too. If they do attend a holiday party, they might be asked the ever-present question, \u201cWhy aren\u2019t you married yet,\u201d which might seem sincere, but the question\u2019s loaded with insinuation, so rather than hearing, \u201cWhy aren\u2019t you married yet,\u201d they hear, \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with you\u2026why aren\u2019t you married yet.\u201d This is even more painful if done in the presence of couples. For many single people, there is such a deep and abiding pain<\/a> during the holidays that many just disappear during the holidays, declining invitations to parties in order to avoid the incessant questions about their singleness, but have we ever considered that they might want to be single\u2026or that they haven\u2019t met a suitable partner yet. Questions like the above one can drive the single person further away, and push them down, deeper and deeper into depression and meaninglessness.<\/p>\n There are some single people in our church that have chosen to remain single, and they are a great blessing to our church. One lady is always giving people things to members to \u201cmake their day,\u201d and does a lot to keep our church looking beautiful. That is her calling. She remains single and wants it so, and as such, she is able to do more than perhaps a married person can do who must devote much of their time to their family. The Apostle Paul wrote that \u201cTo the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband\u201d<\/em> (1 Cor 7:10), so \u201cThe unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. \u00a0But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband\u201d<\/em> (1 Cor 7:32-34). Paul\u2019s point is a single person can pour more of their life into the work that Christ\u2019s called us into (Marr 24:34-40; 28:18-20), but the married person can be \u201canxious about worldly things,\u201d<\/em> like \u201chow to please his wife,\u201d<\/em> and so \u201chis interests are divided,\u201d<\/em> but the unmarried \u201cis anxious about the things of the Lord,\u201d<\/em> like \u201chow to be holy in body and spirit.\u201d<\/em> Singleness is not a calling for everyone because Paul warned, \u201cIt is good for a <\/em>man not to have sexual relations with a woman. \u00a0But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband\u201d (1 Cor 7:1-2). This explains why Paul said, regarding the single person, \u201cif they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion\u201d (1 Cor 7:9), and commit sexual immorality.<\/p>\nCalled to Singleness<\/span><\/h2>\n
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