Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: 1 Corinthians 7 and Psalm 119:1-16

In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul answered questions the Corinthian Christians had written to him about marriage, singleness, divorce, and sex. There appear to have been those among them who strongly believed that it was more spiritual to be celibate, even when one was married! But, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Paul offers a course correction to their thinking.

His firsthand experience as a widower was that singleness allows one more liberty to serve the Lord single-mindedly; because if one is married, one’s focus is also on enriching the life of one’s spouse (and rightly so, he says). But he recognised that sexual desire is a God-given part of our humanity which draws us together in marriage, and which God has designed and created only for marriage. Hence it is better to be married than to “burn with passion” (v.9), and when married it is right for spouses to enjoy sexual intimacy with one another and to honour one another through self-giving (v.2-3).

Having a godly life of sexual intimacy within marriage is pleasing to the Lord. When single, the only way to please the Lord in the area of sexuality is through godly celibacy. And when married, it is absolutely not an option to use one’s desire to serve the Lord as an excuse to get divorced (as some of the Corinthians were suggesting). This is true even when one is married to an unbeliever. (v.10-13).

Really, the long and the short of chapter 7 is that sexual desire is a powerful and sacred gift from God designed to establish and deepen union and intimacy in marriage; so sexual intimacy ought to be enjoyed in a self-giving way (v.3-4) within that context, and not indulged in outside that context or in a selfish way.

On the other hand, celibacy is a powerful and sacred gift from God designed to deepen intimacy with God outside of marriage, and should be used in that context, but not pursued in marriage except for a season of ‘fasting’ to which both spouses agree (v.5) .

“Each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them.” (v.17)

Life application: Determine to honour the Lord with your body (whether single or married) and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and empower you to do so. Remember that your past sins are forgiven, so do not live with guilt and shame. Remember that the Holy Spirit empowers you to overcome present temptation, so do not live in defeat.