Single And Whole

Single and Whole

5/27/2018 Colossians 3:1-14 Psalms 119:105-112 1 Corinthians 7:32-34

As we have celebrated our volunteers, you can’t miss the fact that the singles in our church play a vital role in completing the mission of God here at New Life At Calvary.

Singles are the true face of diversity in that they come in all ages, races, sexes, and groups. We often take for granted the impact the singles have on the life of the church, but God never does. God gives us singles to multiply the work of the church.

God calls all of us to a life of consecration. Everyone is called to consecrate his or her life to God. To consecrate simply means to set apart for a particular reason. We can consecrate anything by setting it aside to be used only in particular circumstances. Some of us remember when we had a dress or suit as a child that was consecrated only to be worn on Sundays. We have been called as believers to set our lives apart to be used by God. We are agreeing to use our bodies in a fashion that does not violate others and also does not violate the principles in the word of God.

Too often the church gives the appearance that everybody living for God should be working toward getting married. Marriage is exalted as the ultimate happiness for a believer. This was not so for about the first 1400 years of the church’s existence. It was not until the Protestant Reformation that marriage was seen as a higher calling. Before that, being single was admired and rewarded by the church. It was the highest form of living. That was why Catholic priests did not marry.

What comes to your mind when you think of a single person? Some see the single state as a time to be carefree, wild, on the loose, the time to sow wild oats, and the time to have fun before having to settle down. Some see the single state as something to be avoided and escaped from. Give me a husband or a wife, and give me one now. Any one just about will do. Neither of these views are correct about what it is to be single in the eyes of God.

First of all I want us to realize that to be single does not mean foot loose and free, able to be game for any man or woman out there on the prowl. It does not mean someone who is searching for a mate just waiting to get married. To be single means that you are complete person, separate and distinct, with the ability to function alone. It does not mean you can’t ask for help. It does not mean you can’t function well with others. It means you are a whole person.

All of us started out as being single and all of us are on the way to being single again. Even if we die while married, we shall be single on the other side of death. I know we talk about seeing our husbands and wives in heaven, but Jesus told the Sadducees, in heaven they neither marry nor are they given in marriage.

We often hear married people say, this is my better half. It’s nice to say, but God’s call upon our lives is to be a whole person all by our self. There is this pressure put on us to think we must have another person to become a whole person. We are told our soul mate is out there, and we must find them to be complete.

God reminds us that we belong to him and we are to be complete in Him. When we stand before God to give an account for our lives, the only one standing with us for our salvation is Jesus Christ. The only one who will answer for the choices we make is ourselves. We will be single and we will be whole.

Marriage is lifted up in the New Testament as a way of life for those believers who find their sexual desires to be a strong temptation that would keep them from being obedient to the word of God. It is okay to fall in love and marry someone. Marriage is required over choosing sexual sin. But the bible clearly teaches that those who marry will have a set of problems all their own. It never teaches that marriage is the promised land, though we pretend that it is.

The key to a good marriage is not to find your other half, but to come into a relationship as a whole person who is ready to unite with another whole person. One has to realize that marriage does not make a person more mature. It simply magnifies how immature they really are.