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1 Corinthians 7:25-40 ESV

25 Now concerning the betrothed, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. 26 I think that in view of the present distress it is good for a person to remain as he is. 27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. 29 This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. 32 I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. 33 But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, 34 and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. 35 I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord. 36 If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed, if his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin. 37 But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well. 38 So then he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better. 39 A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. 40 Yet in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

I.SINGLE OR NOT YET MARRIED?
A.No one in Christ is single. They are just not yet married.

II.THE ADVANTAGES OF BEING ON CHRISTIAN MINGLE
A.Single Christians have fewer attachments to the things of this world and free to serve Jesus without family obligations.
B.The church should equip and unleash the not yet married rather than pitying them.
C.Your single years are an opportunity to have unprecedented fruitfulness for the sake of the kingdom of Jesus.

III. PUTTING A RING ON THE “RIGHT” FINGER
A.Pursue marriage, but with a fellow Christian, so that your kingdom work continues even into your married years.
B.To marry your mission field is madness.
C.Being in Christ and not the right color or from the right class is what matters to God in choosing a mate.

NEXT STEPS
1.Live for the Day of the Lord more than your wedding day. Live as the bride of Christ, anticipating our eternal union with our groom.

NEXT WEEK:
Supremacy of Jesus in Christian Freedom – 1 Corinthians 8