1 Corinthians 7

http://www.esvbible.org/1+Corinthians+7/

Back when Paul wrote this letter, it was considered a good thing for men not to get married, but he says that God woud rather we do get married so that we can avoid sexual sins. Because each man should have his own wife and each woman should have her own husband. When people get married, they are giving control of their bodies over to their spouse. He says that married couples should not hold back from each other unless they intend to do so to concentrate on prayers, and they should set a time in which to do this. He does say that this is not a command but Paul's suggestion so that people can't be tempted due to the lack of sex in the marriage. Paul says not to despise your time being single but to view it as time in which to serve the Lord with no distractions. He also states that only people with the right gifts should get married. The Bible says marriage is unselfishly giving yourself over to another person. Some people aren't made for that and should stay single unless, Paul writes, that sexual desires would burn them up. Paul says that people should get married if they think they would struggle with sexual sins. The Lord says that people should not get divorced, and if they do, they should stay single or get back together with their spouse. The Bible does say elsewhere, however, that if your spouse has an affair, you can divorce him or her. Paul then adds his own beliefs: that if a believer marries a nonbeliever, they should stay together as long as the nonbeliever cares to, and if the nonbeliever leaves, God's marriage vows had not affected them anyways. But if the nonbeliever is married to the believer, the nonbeliever becomes holy through the spouse. In that way, their children are holy. Paul goes on to say that we should live the life God gave us when He called us. He talks about circumcision and that the act or lack there of means nothing. He also says that if you were a slave you should gain worldly freedom because the worldly freemen are God's slaves, and we should not be slaves to those here on Earth. Paul believes that staying single is the better way for Christians to live. BUT HE DOES NOT SAY THAT LIVING SINGLE IS MORE HOLY THAN GETTING MARRIED. This is just Paul's belief. Paul then says to remember that Jesus could come back at anytime, so if we are married, not to let that consume us because we have to remember what should be most important in this life. Paul sticks very true in his belief that people should remain single because: a) there are less things in the way to distract you from God, and b) (as a very complicated scenario I read) If you are being tortured for your faith, you will never renounce it from your own anguish, but if you see your wife or your children in anguish, you may renounce it. Therefore, staying single would cause you to avoid these things. Do I think everything Paul said is spot on? Yes and no. I see why he thinks being single is good, and we should all cherish our time being single because we can be with God without that distraction, but there is also something amazing about being married that I think can also be important for Christians.