Happily Ever After: Devotions from Time of GraceSample
When You're Single: Love Your Singleness
Do you think it’s strange to begin a devotional series on marriage by celebrating singleness? Here’s the point: You will probably not be able to build a happy marriage until you have learned to like and accept yourself as a single person.
St. Paul wrote, “it is good for a man not to marry” (1 Corinthians 7:1). “I wish that all men were as I am [i.e., single]” (1 Corinthians 7:7). Huh?? What on earth could he mean?
For one, God created you as a single person. He adopted you as a single person, drew you into his family, and developed a relationship with you all by yourself.
For another, it is a dangerous fantasy to think that if you are miserable as a single person, marriage in and of itself will make you happy. Misery is portable. If you are insecure and needy as a single person, you could become a permanent energy drain on your poor spouse.
But joy is portable too. So is contentment. Enjoy who you are--a masterpiece of God’s design, dearly loved, redeemed by Christ, and immortal. It’s much more fun to be married to someone who’s secure and at peace.
Do you think it’s strange to begin a devotional series on marriage by celebrating singleness? Here’s the point: You will probably not be able to build a happy marriage until you have learned to like and accept yourself as a single person.
St. Paul wrote, “it is good for a man not to marry” (1 Corinthians 7:1). “I wish that all men were as I am [i.e., single]” (1 Corinthians 7:7). Huh?? What on earth could he mean?
For one, God created you as a single person. He adopted you as a single person, drew you into his family, and developed a relationship with you all by yourself.
For another, it is a dangerous fantasy to think that if you are miserable as a single person, marriage in and of itself will make you happy. Misery is portable. If you are insecure and needy as a single person, you could become a permanent energy drain on your poor spouse.
But joy is portable too. So is contentment. Enjoy who you are--a masterpiece of God’s design, dearly loved, redeemed by Christ, and immortal. It’s much more fun to be married to someone who’s secure and at peace.
Scripture
About this Plan
Marriage is an amazing gift from God, but it is also hard. Many marriages struggle - partners either don’t know how to treat each other or they know and don't want to change. These devotions, one for each day of your month, are for married people, for those who hope to be married, and for all of you who used to be married. Re-listen to God's words about this sacred institution and rededicate your ways to be more like his ways.
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We would like to thank Time of Grace for providing this plan. For more information, please visit www.timeofgrace.org.