Disclaimer: The topic here might be singleness, but if you are in a relationship or marriage, I encourage you to keep reading! The core of this is applicable to anyone and everyone.
Whether you choose to celebrate or not, the commercialization of Valentine’s Day tends to highlight all of our “relationship statuses”. If you are in a season of singleness, perhaps it draws even more attention to this. I know very well that for some this season of singleness can be filled with longing, prayers, and hopes for a future spouse. You’ve probably heard this before, but I want to remind you – love the season you are in. God has a purpose for it.
Walking through a season of singleness isn’t a trial we must face, but rather a time of great opportunity. “To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single, as I am.” (1 Corinthians 7:8). Even Paul saw the great benefits of living a life this way. Marriage is a gift from God, but just because you haven’t received it yet does not mean God is not blessing you where you are. Paul dedicated his entire life to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a calling he was able to fulfill partly because of his sole focus on this mission. Remaining single allows you to give your 100% to God.
“I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, 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. 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” (1 Corinthians 7:32-35)
(Married folks: read 1 Corinthians 7 in its entirety! Paul drops some wisdom about honoring your relationship. I don’t believe his intent was to discourage marriage, but rather to encourage a “God first” partnership. No matter what season you are in, the Lord should come before all).
You see, marriage is a gift given to us this side of Heaven to prepare us for a greater gift to come. This role is one that can be embraced even in a season of singleness. No matter what, the church is the bride of Jesus.
Ephesians 5:22-32 “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.”
Jesus loves you in such a profound, deep, almost unexplainable way. He expressed this love when he came to the cross, and continues each day to love us so great, advocating on our behalf to The Father (Romans 8:34). God IS love, and he is chasing after you. Live your season of singleness (however long it might be) by chasing after Him. It’s the only love that will last for all eternity.
So I encourage you, however you’re celebrating this day of love (Galentine’s Day anyone?), remember to honor God and the beautiful relationship we share with him. Remember that Jesus is preparing the way for his bride.
“John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and they came and said to Him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “While the bridegroom is with them, the attendants of the bridegroom cannot fast, can they? So long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. “But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day” (Mark 2:18-20).
The Lord will use every season.
by Casey Bonilla
He Still Does 