(Graphs not based on actual statistics, for visual reference only.)
We only have so much time and energy to devote to relating with others. So those married have more time and energy taken up by their wife/husband which leaves less time and energy for God. Whereas those who remain single have more "potential" time and energy to spend on a relationship with God. However, it is up to the single person to take that potential and work on his relationship with God.
Guys, I hate to spoil your plans to find that special girl that you have been waiting for. Not to mention the honeymoon. Girls, you may be thinking something similar, but I am sorry...if you want to be the most serious about your relationship with God, then forget marriage.
Still don't believe me??? Do you think that I am way off? Fair enough, but I didn't pull this out of my...well you know. A guy by the name of Paul agrees with me.
1 Corinthians 7:1 (NIV)
"It is good for a man not to marry."
and for those who noticed the alternative translation...
"It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman."
(but, lets be serious guys...like we would be able to avoid sex for most of our lives while living (married) with a woman we find attractive)
Paul goes on to say...
1 Corinthians 7:8-9 (NIV)
"Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good to stay unmarried, as I am. But if they cannot control themselves they should marry, for it is better to marry then to burn with passion."
So guys, if you can't stay unmarried your whole lives, then it is a matter of lacking the self control to love and focus on God fully. It seems to me that marriage is only second best. A man gets married only if he can not control his urges. Marriage is for those who do not want to make God the prime focus in their lives.
1 Corinthians 7:32-35 (NIV)
"32 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. 33 But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— 34 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. 35 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."
If there are any guys or gals reading this that are already married...no worries, Paul has something to say to you too:
1 Corinthians 7:29 (NIV)
"What I mean brothers, is that time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as they had none"
Paul does say that getting married is not a sin, however it does distract us from Jesus. So if you are a very serious Christian, strongly consider to do the right thing and stay single and devoted to Jesus Christ.
-If you disagree with anything that was said in this article, add a comment or send an email voicing your opinion to between.the.trees@hotmail.com . You message will be posted shortly after.
4 comments:
Ahh marriage!
Some interesting points have been raised by Jordan, Jenny and Dutsin. With very little time on my hands to respond as in depth as I would like, I will add two thoughts.
The first is that it was not until I married Phil that I could really wrap my head around Christ's devotion to his bride and his father. Marriage and parenthood (but I shall focus on marriage as it is the topic at hand, and hopefully not preceeded by parenthood), are, in my estimation, the only way to truly understand what it is to fully sacrifice for another. Because of the close intimacy, the level of commitment and the amount of time spent with a spouse, marriage is the ultimate backdrop to understand the depth of love and sacrifice that Christ has for his people. After all, the relationship that we, the church, has with Christ is continually referred to in the metaphor of marriage. As such, I did not comprehend the love Christ has for me until I was married. And my lack of comprehension seved as a barrier that not only prevented me from experiencing Christ's love to the fullest, but also kept me from fully devoting myself to God. It is within marriage that I have found truer and more purposeful devotion to God.
My second point (and hopefully I have not lost you in the ramblings of my first point) is that marriage can be and is a spiritual discipline, as much as having quiet time with God is. It is a spiritual discipline to submit to my husband. It is a spiritual discipline for Phil and I to seek and to experience Christ as a couple. It is also a spiritual discipline for us to invest in our marriage, and to share our hearts as a means to pursue a godly relationship. In doing so, we are worshiping the Creator of marriage. We are pleasing him with our love, our intimacy and our joy for each other. We are spending time (seeing that is what sparked this discussion) with God as we spend time investing in our relationship as he is the centre of our marriage.
In other musings...I wonder ( I do not have the answer) why right after Paul says, "It is good for a man not to marry", he says that since there is so much immorality "EACH man should have his own wife, and EACH woman should have her own husband." It does not say that those who are not serious about their relationship with God, or those that (to quote jenny) are horny should marry. It says EACH should have their own spouse. "Each" being define as "referring to every one". Again...no answer...just out loud musings.
Is this your actual view? Do you really believe all this or are you just trying to get people to talk?
It just seems so ridiculous... if there was no marriage or sex how would the earth and the people in it exsist?
What happened to the jordan that wanted to get married and have a family?
Re: Anonymous
This is not my view of marriage. After I read this chapter in 1 Corinthians I took some time to think about what Paul said and meant. Also, I wanted to know what others thought about the passage.
However, it is hard to get people to write about something on a blog, so I wrote this article taking an extremely one sided and slightly sarcastic stance with the hope that people would disagree with it (or agree with it) more passionately.
Soon enough I will probably post an article explaining my actual beliefs regarding marriage.
I love how you said that marriage is (or should be) a spiritual discipline!
I see a connection between what you said and what steve veasey posted about how we shouldn't "compartmentalize" our lives to fit in time with God in between other relationships in our lives. God should be in all areas in our lives. To do this is hard, it is a discipline.
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