Singleness in Christ

     Saturday evening i had the opportunity to share with the solteiros (single people) in the church here. By the time that all arrived there was at least fifty including several married couples who are discipling some of the youth. There was a time of worship, and a young brother named Mateus shared some things. ( I am trying to do without translation so i can learn) After Wanderley introduced me and his son Anderson prayed for me and the translator ( English into Portuguese), a young woman named Rebeca, daughter of a missionary family who went to school with the children of American missionaries) I spoke about being single in Christ. I do not find a lot about this topic in the Bible. Jesus makes a comment in Matthew 19 about those who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom of God (verse 12). The rest is in 1 Corinthians 7 except for the many references to widows.
   In 1 Corinthians the Holy Spirit reveals through Paul the apostle that married people will have trouble in this life (verse 28) and that unmarried people can concentrate on pleasing the Lord. (verses 32-35) Although the Bible states this clearly I observe that most Christians, probably following the culture, believe that marriage is better, and that singleness is something to be endured. What I have seen over many years and hundreds of married couples is that none of them is sailing smoothly through life without any problems or issues.
   Recognizing that most of the people that I was speaking to will be married at some point in their lives I said that the best thing they could do (whether married or unmarried) was to receive the love of God for themselves personally. Human love is up and down, sometimes weak, and cannot be counted upon. God's love is strong, constant, and unchanging. It took very strong love for Jesus to suffer on the cross for us.
     Finally i added several thoughts about the differences between men and women. I still do not understand why God made us so different. But Genesis 1:27 reveals that both men and women are both needed to fully reflect the image of God. One major difference is found in the end of Genesis 2. The man initiates the actions of leaving father and mother, and uniting to his wife. The woman responds. Reflecting about this will help to understand the differences. For example, why do women find a silent man frustrating? Because they have nothing to respond too. Why do women respond to decorations in a house while men don't? We observe the same things but react differently.
     Ephesians 5:33 reveals another crucial difference. Men are told to love their wives and women to respect their husbands. Why? Because men and women want different things. Women want love. Men want respect.