As I wrote the title to this writing I cannot help but think of how it might be taken. That is consistent with what I read this morning in 1 Corinthians as Paul writes about the unmarried. When reading the words of Paul, without digging in to understand, one would think that he has something against marriage and believes that one should not marry. To some degree, he is against marriage, but only as in doing so, one places them in a state where it gets in the way of serving the Lord. He is only saying it is better to remain as you are to keep your focus on God.
“26I think that in view of the present distress it is good for a person to remain as he is.” – 1 Corinthians 7:26 (ESV)
Now if one does get married, they have not done anything wrong in the eyes of God or the law. One only should be aware of what comes with marriage.
“28But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that.” – 1 Corinthians 7:28 (ESV)
Again, as I have encountered a number of times, I have studied this passage before. I was studying the word “please” and verses 32-35 of 1 Corinthians 7 were the verses of that study. What was gained in my study was that I should do my best to stay away from those things that bring or could bring anxiety to my life. I should be focused on God and my pleasing of Him. In fact as I do just about every morning I write in the margin of my bible to capture a reminder and here is what I wrote in the margin then.
“We should be free from the anxiety of this world and concern ourselves with only pleasing the Lord!”
When I read that this morning, I was, as intended, reminded that in this world, my focus and biggest concern is to be on God. I should be doing those things to please Him and avoid those things that will distract me from Him.
That brings me back to Paul and my title to this writing. We should not allow marriage, or anything else get in the way of our serving and pleasing God. Paul sums it up well in verse 38.
“38So then he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better.” – 1 Corinthians 7:38 (ESV)
He is clear to me that marriage is not a bad thing and if deciding to marry, good for you. But as he mentioned in verse 26, “it is good for a person to remain as he is.” When doing so, one is able to direct his focus to God, pleasing and serving Him.
Where is your focus? Are you allowing the things of the world, like possibly marriage, to get in the way of your focus on God? What if you were to remove or avoid the distractions, and focus your attention on pleasing and serving God?
Trevor's Thoughts 