HOW TO KEEP YOUR SANITY

WHILE SINGLE

Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. 1 Corinthians 7:8

SINGLENESS IS GOOD.

God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27

Western civilization idolizes individualism and self-realization and views marriage as something to attain after reaching a certain point in life. Marriage becomes a means of self-fulfillment and an idol.

Eastern civilization idolizes the family and makes everything revolve around it. Family becomes an idol.

Christianity has a unique view of singleness because there is no obligation to get married. Marriage is understood as a temporary earthly institution until the second coming with the new heaven and new earth.

For singles who choose to get married, marriage is a sacrament that is meant to be an act of service. Christianity drastically changes both how marriage and singleness should be viewed by its followers. It also emphasizes that marriage will never give you everything that you are looking for in life. That can only be found in Christ. This view is different from the world’s view. Christians are called to be set apart from the world while remaining in it.

~ Tim Keller, An Introduction to a Theology of Singleness

USE YOUR PERSONAL FREEDOM

TO NARROW YOUR SPIRITUAL FOCUS

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.

An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband.

I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord. 1 Corinthians 7:32-35

Our language has wisely sensed the two sides of being alone. It has created the word loneliness to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word solitude to express the glory of being alone. ~Paul Tillich

It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. 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

SEEK COMPANIONSHIP, NOT COMPLETION

(suitable mate, not soul mate)

‘I want someone who will fill every vacancy in me, awaken dormant gifts inside, and continuously enrapture me in otherworldly emotional bliss.’ This puts tremendous pressure on another human being. ~ Ben Stuart

I will make a helper suitable for him.” Genesis 2:18

BEING SINGLE DOESN’T HAVE TO MEAN

BEING ALONE

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever. Psalm 23