32 “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. 33But he who is married cares about the things of the world – how he may please his wife. 34 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 in body and in spirit. 35And 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.”
7:32
But I want you to be without care.
Paul’s aim is that believers have freedom from care when the pressures of life come, so that is why he recommends that people stay single. Marriage takes a lot of time and requires many mundane tasks. Division of concern is just a fact of marriage.
He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord – how he may please the Lord.
Single people can give more time to the Lord and exclusively give themselves to the Lord because they have fewer distractions in life. They are undivided in their devotion to the Lord.
7:33
But he who is married cares about the things of the world – how he may please his wife.
Marriage necessitates devotion to our mates. Married people must meet the daily demands of life. Their concerns are more divided about those issues than the single person.
7:34
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 in body and in spirit.
Essential to a good marriage is protracted care of one another.
But she who is married cares about the things of the world – how she may please her husband.
Marriage of necessity involves giving significant care for one another. It necessitates additional obligations.
7:35
And this I say for your own profit, not that I may put a leash on you, but for what is proper,
Marriage offers diversions from complete devotion to the Lord, while singleness has fewer distractions. Paul does not make this point to put a leash on the Corinthians about getting married but to establish the conditions for fully serving the Lord.
and that you may serve the Lord without distraction.
The Devil will throw a monkey wrench into the works every chance he can. If we allow it, marriage can become a distraction. This does not imply that people should neglect their mates, for that would be a disaster on the other end. Marriage takes time and effort; that is the point of this passage, and the reason singles can serve the Lord to a higher degree. Then again, any spouse wholly devoted to the state of marriage, who is not considering serving the Lord, distorts the biblical intent for marriage.
PRINCIPLE:
Single people should view their singleness as a special opportunity to serve the Lord.
APPLICATION:
There are fewer demands on the time and money of a single person. Singles should use their freedom to serve the Lord. Martha’s distraction from sitting at the feet of Jesus came from her concern about making a meal.
I do not care for this reading. In the beginning, God made woman for man. God did not intend for man to be alone so this reading is contradictory to that. Second, just because a man/woman is single does not mean there are not ample distractions. If a single person has a mother or father still living, that’s a distraction as he will have to take care of them. If the single person has a living brother, sister, niece, nephew, job, home, these are all distractions. The only way you can truly serve God is to become a Monk and live in a monestary or convent. A married man and woman can give much time to the Lord – sometimes more than the single. I have two sons who are single and are athiests. They have jobs and feel God has nothing to do with what happens to them in their lives, good or bad and I have brought them up to be respectable Catholics to no avail. Not everyone who is single believes in God and if they do, they don’t dedicate as much time to him as you should. However, many a married person may spend quality time in church and prayer praising God. I think this reading overstates being single and undermines being married.
Carol, the reading your referencing here is the Word of God. That is, you disagree with God if you disagree with 1 Corinthians 7:32-35. Secondly, Paul is writing during a period of what he calls the “present distress” (verse 26). His suggestion is not necessarily normative for all times. Earlier in the chapter he made a “concession, not a command” (v.6). By application, it would be normative for people going through similar situations today. However, it is clear that single people have more time than married people. This does not imply that singles may be very busy.
this also part of the body of the church …there are many jobs to do division of labor ..if you please different jobs in the body of Christ ,,,,his church pilgrim on earth
I feel the same way Carol does. I had to do this reading, but I don’t understand married men and woman I don’t always get distracted… plenty couples I know go to church together and are dedicate to church and pray a lot even still individually so….???
Ideally we see Jesus in our married spouse – perfectly. It is generally easier to ignore, and frequently avoid, non-spouses in our lives who irritate us. The imperfections of our spouses are not only unavoidable but also much more personally irritating, if not occasions of sinful temptations. We must deal with these daily, personal irritations in our marriages but neither of us are likely to reach perfect harmony in this life. To the extent we see little change, these irritations become daily crosses for our spiritual perfection.
Single people can be irritated by an equal number of people but these irritations are not nearly as personal as in a marriage. Single life does have its own challenges.
We do not need to apply too much rationalisation to the Scriptures because of the risk of missing the real meaning. We need to understand the context and destination of Paul’s letters to really understand what he is talking about. If you read the entire chapter (7) you will see he earlier tried to emphasise that not everyone is called to be single. If God calls you to the married life, then do get married and serve God very well. If God calls you to be celibate, do stay single and serve Him very well too. If you are inclined to one state, it does not mean that those inclined to another state are doing something wrong.
Miss K, the argument is that single people have more free time than married people. The argument is one of degree, not whether married people can and do serve the Lord.
Innocent, good points.
I completely get this, having been married but now no longer. Paul isn’t trying to criticise marriage or make singleness a more honourable state to be in. No, he is simply saying that if you are single then your have opportunity for a beautiful relationship with the Lord with less distraction than if you were married … and I couldn’t agree more.
My relationship with my Father is far greater now than it has ever been, not least because I have had to depend on him through some really tough times.
I am not saying it is not possible to have a deep relationship and great faith whilst being married but if you are honouring your marriage as you should (biblically) then you will have less time and more distractions to give to God. It makes logical sense, and I know it to be true.
Please don’t take this as a criticism though. It really isn’t meant to be.
Too many single people get distracted with the desire to find a partner … we can all get it wrong.
But there is grace in all of that. Keep Jesus as the centre.
As a single person, I do believe that despite being busy with living life and all it entails there’s a deeper focus and availability I get to seek the Lord. E.g during the night if the Lord desires to speak to me whatever time it may be I can just lay here in bed and tap into the spiritual and it come to praying I can just roll over and do it not being mindful that I would disturb my spouse. Additionally if the Lord speak to me to tell me to stop after work to visit the sick and shut in I don’t have to plan with a spouse or children, I can just go. My key point is in agreement with the Pauline letter to the Corinthians church there is a definite opportunity in being more available to God. The main focus for a single Christian should be our desire to please God
Donna, thanks for that testimony.
I see it as one. Being married is serving the Lord; serving one’s spouse and children is serving the Lord. In other words in any life, single or married, if done with the intention of serving the Lord IS serving the Lord. Scripture says to pray without ceasing; every thing can be a prayer. One must take Scripture as a whole. It cannot be that the majority of humanity do not have an equal opportunity to have a close relationship with the Lord simply because they are married not single.
It is wonderful being single and having a richly devoted life in an intense relationship with my personal Lord and saviour . It would be ok to be married, I guess, but I would miss the serenity and peace only He can give.
Wow! This is so super nice! I have loved all the arguments put in here. These different life experiences and opinions help us to understand the Word of God very well. However, we must first of all understand diligently the exegesis of the context in which the Word of God was promulgated at the time. The Word of God is objective,,we must not as such take it subjectively. Thanks.
Moral of the story, as a single male/female enjoy your relationship with Yah! Enjoy the one on one intimacy with Him while you can. Fill yourself up with as much of His spirit while you have the extra time and freedom to do so.