Context No. 4137 of 4322 · 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 7:6-11: in context

6But this I say by way of concession, not of commandment. 7Yet I wish that all men were like me. However, each man has his own gift from God, one of this kind, and another of that kind. 8But I say to the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they remain even as I am. 9But if they don’t have self-control, let them marry. For it’s better to marry than to burn with passion. 10But to the married I command—not I, but the Lord—that the wife not leave her husband 11(but if she departs, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband not leave his wife.

Writing about marriage and singleness, Paul makes a striking observation: each person has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. He does not present marriage and singleness as one being higher and the other lower; he treats both as gifts, callings from God, each suited to different people.

Some, like Paul, are gifted for a single life devoted to the Lord; others are called to marriage. There is freedom and dignity here for both states of life. Neither the single nor the married should feel they have missed the better path; each is a gift from God, with its own opportunities to serve him. The single person is not incomplete, nor the married person less devoted; each has received a gift from God and a calling to live faithfully in it. Whether God has given us singleness or marriage, we can receive it as a gift from him and seek to serve him faithfully within it, rather than envying the other state or feeling less than complete.

Whether God has given me singleness or marriage, do I receive my state as a gift and calling from him, seeking to serve him faithfully within it, rather than envying the other or feeling that I have missed the better path?

Sources

1 Corinthians 7:7: "Yet I wish that all men were like me. However, each man has his own gift from God, one of this kind, and another of that kind."
1 Corinthians 7:8: "But I say to the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they remain even as I am."
1 Corinthians 7:17: "Only, as the Lord has distributed to each man, as God has called each, so let him walk."