Singleness

Singleness

8/5/94 Colossians 3:1-14 Psalms 119:105-112

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. A dress can be consecrated. A bank account can be consecrated. 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.

This morning we are going to look at what is the calling to be single and how does consecration apply to the 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. Every body in here today is either single or on their way to being single. You may say, but wait a minute I’m married. Even though you may be married one of the three D’s is going to bring you back to the state of being single. The D’s are divorce, disability or death. If any of these three things hit your spouse, you will find yourself living as a single.

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. This means, that even if you are married, you need to know how to be single. A single is disticnctly and uniquely one. It means you are able to function alone, stand alone, think alone, choose alone, go through alone, and know God alone. A single person is one who can do what needs to be done alone.

To be single, has more to do with our individual relationship to God, than it does

with our marital state. For centuries, marriage has been lifted up as the state of condition that every man and woman should aspire to, and anyone who does not marry has somehow failed to attain the utmost in life. The word of God teaches directly the opposite. Marriage in the New Testament is presented as a state for those who are too weak to control their lust and passion. The Bible has never said that marriage is the promised land. Some have found it to be the greatest wilderness of all. Any person that cannot function as a single, is headed for a disaster in a marriage relationship. One does not get married in order to become mature.

Marriage has never changed anyone. The only thing marriage does by itself, is to give you some legal rights to properties and responsibilities and to give you the spiritual right to engage in sexual intercourse. As far as being inconsiderate, hot headed, stubborn, lazy, lustful, arrogant, deceiving, unforgiving, never on time, brutal, foul, insensitive all these things are still present in a person after they say I do. They will manifest themselves in the person’s life after they say I do. The apostle Paul said in Philippians 4:12, I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. If you can not be content as a single person in your life, and you just got to have someone to have someone, your marriage will be hell.

The first responsibility of every person is to mature him or her self in Jesus Christ. Every one of us need to be perfecting ourselves. Marriage is never a complete solution to our problems. The reason to get married is to control the lust for sex, but even after marriage, you will still struggle with controlling the lusts for others. The key to being fulfilled in life is to know how to live the single life that God has called us to live.

Part of the problem has come from our misinterpretation of Genesis 2:18 in which it says, Gen 2:18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." I want you to notice. Who was with Adam at this time? Who did Adam have that He could look at? Who did Adam have that He could touch? Who did Adam have that he could share similar experiences with. Adam was body, soul, and spirit. God is Spirit. There was no one that Adam could relate to with a body.