Tuesday March 20, 2012

Read Matthew 19:1-12. 1 Corinthians 7:32-35

 

One of the hardest things in a Christian church is to be single. Most churches cater for families and most expect people to get married, have kids and to settle down. Being single has many challenges both with in the church and outside of it.

 

While it is not wrong to pray for a spouse or to want to be married our focus and our goal should not be marriage. Our focus, whether we are married or not, should be the Lord and His kingdom work that God has allocated for us to be doing. We should be setting our heart and mind on the Lord and not on a potential marriage partner. Unfortunately many a single person who has been  desperate to get married has latched onto the first person that comes along. Eventually they realise that in getting married, they’ve made a rather unwise choice.

 

Being single has many positives and negatives, as does being married. We should not dwell on the negatives but rather on the positives. Being single allows us to have a mindset dedicated to the Lord. While we are single we are able to give the Lord our undivided attention and perhaps do things that married people cannot do. Many times, for example, I have had the opportunity (and the great desire, too) to whizz off overseas to help brothers and sisters in desperate need. But having prayerfully considered my current family situation, I’ve felt it wise to stay and look after the family. If I were single I could have gone to help. It’s’ only a small example but it highlights that being single really does have benefits. Let’s focus on those benefits and let’s devote ourselves wholly to the Lord.

 

Prayer:

¥ Pray for the singles in our congregation. There are many different temptations for singles. Pray that God would strengthen each one of the singles and grant them great integrity, wisdom and patience. Pray that God would use these people powerfully to build His kingdom. Pray for a blessing on each one of them.