Rule #4-Stay Unrelentingly Committed to Others
1 Corinthians 13
Foundations for Biblical Singleness…
“But I wish everyone were single, just as I am. Yet each person has a special gift from God, of one kind or another. So I say to those who aren’t married and to widows—it’s better to stay unmarried, just as I am. But if they can’t control themselves, they should go ahead and marry. It’s better to marry than to burn with lust…I want you to be free from the concerns of this life. An unmarried man can spend his time doing the Lord’s work and thinking how to please him. But a married man has to think about his earthly responsibilities and how to please his wife. His interests are divided. In the same way, a woman who is no longer married or has never been married can be devoted to the Lord and holy in body and in spirit. But a married woman has to think about her earthly responsibilities and how to please her husband. I am saying this for your benefit, not to place restrictions on you. I want you to do whatever will help you serve the Lord best, with as few distractions as possible.” 1 Corinthians 7:7-9,32-35
- Both singleness and marriage are good.
- Biblically, marriage is expected.
- Biblically, singleness is exceptional.
- Both singleness and marriage are for God’s glory.
- Singleness has a purpose we must be careful not to waste.
- We give ourselves wholly to a single desire:
- To use His good gift for His great glory.
Commitment Choices for Biblical Marriage…
“And further, you will submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. You wives will submit to your husbands as you do to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of his body, the church; he gave his life to be her Savior. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives must submit to your husbands in everything. And you husbands must love your wives with the same love Christ showed the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by baptism and God’s word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man is actually loving himself when he loves his wife. No one hates his own body but lovingly cares for it, just as Christ cares for his body, which is the church. And we are his body. As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Ephesians 5:21-33
- Committed love extends grace.
“Love is patient and kind…and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged.” 1 Corinthians 13:4,7
“Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.” Ephesians 4:3
- Committed love expects the best.
“Love is…always hopeful.” 1 Corinthians 13:7c
“Encourage each other and build each other up.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11
- Committed love endures the worst.
“Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love will last forever, but prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will disappear…there are three things that will endure—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. Let love be your highest goal.” 1 Corinthians 13:7-8,13
Rev. Brandon Dasinger
Teaching Pastor and Director of Missions