1 Corinthians 7:32-40

1 Corinthians 7:32-40

But I desire that you all are free from worry.  The unmarried one worries about the things of the Lord: how he should please the Lord.  But the one who married worries about the things of the world: how to please the wife.  And he has been divided.  And the unmarried woman and the betrothed woman worry about the things of the Lord: in order that she should be holy by both body and spirit.  But the one who married worries about the things of this world: how she should please the husband.  And I say this for your own benefit, in order that I should not place a bridle upon you all but rather for attractiveness and devotion in service to the Lord without distraction.  And if someone presumes to act indecently upon his betrothed and if he should be past his prime and he is under an obligation to become this way, let him do that which he desires.  He does not sin, let him marry.  And whoever continues steadfastly on in his views in his heart while not having a necessity – but he has authority regarding his own will and having judged this matter in his own heart to keep his betrothed – he will do well.  Therefore even the one who married his betrothed does well and the one who does not marry does better.  A wife has been bound for as long as the time that her husband lives.  And if the husband should be dead, she is free to marry whomever she desires – only in the Lord.  But she is blessed if she should remain in this manner – according to my judgment.  But I also think to have the Spirit of God.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

The first half of this passage has to do with one word repeated again and again: “worry.”  We all worry about things in this life, don’t we?  We all worry about our needs as well as our wants.  But there is one truth to worry.  When we are single, we only have our own worries to consider when contemplating obedience to the Lord.  But the married person has their own worries, the worries of the spouse, and also the worries of any children that might be involved.  Again, remember from yesterday that Paul isn’t arguing that marriage is bad.  What he is arguing is that marriage inherently makes obedience to the Lord more complicated.  There are more people, ideas, and relationships to align with God in marriage.  Again, that doesn’t make anything wrong.  In fact, when it all does align it actually means that there is a greater support network!  But it takes more work to get those things aligned.  There is more worry involved while people, thoughts, and relationships are getting aligned for God.

Whose worries do you have to consider in your life?  When do the relationships in your life honestly make it more difficult to follow the call of God?

Second Thought:

1 Corinthians 7:36-38 gives us a very strange and unique picture of the church in Corinth.  Here is what is going on.  There are people who cared for each other so deeply that they wanted to live life together.  However, they had become convinced that sexuality would bring their relationship down.  Therefore, they lived together in a sort of “spiritual marriage” without ever physically consummating the marriage.  That is, they lived as though they were married but never had sex.  In these verses, Paul is telling us that such a pattern of life in incredibly commendable!  To live as spiritual husband and wife and be able to put aside the physical need for sex is astounding.  However, Paul also tells them that it puts a great strain on a person’s spirit to care that deeply for a person and not share the physical act of sex.  In such cases, Paul tells those people to get married.  After all, it is no sin to get married.  It is better to get married and allow the natural physicality to exist than to try and adhere to an unnatural higher standard that may end up causing more problems than it is worth to those unable to attain such a standard.

Do you think it odd that people could live as husband and wife and not share in a sexual experience? Why might this be weird?  What might be the benefits of such an existence?

Third Thought:

At the end of this passage Paul reminds us all that marriage is for life.  Normally, none of us are under an obligation to become married.  Thus, when we marry it is because we chose to do so.  If we make that choice and that commitment, we should live by it until the spouse dies.  Should the spouse die, we can choose to remain married or unmarried again.  But should our spouse live, we need to honor our commitment.

Do you think marriage is for life?  What gets in the way of that belief?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 Corinthians 8:1-6