Without  doubt, marriage in the will of God is a most blessed life. When a Christian couple joins in 'Holy Matrimony', they enjoy many spiritual, emotional, and physical benefits. However, as with any other privilege, there is a coinciding responsibility. Someone wisely said, "Even if marriages are made in heaven, man has to be responsible for the maintenance."  There is much truth in the previous statement as well as the  following öne:  "Marriage teaches you loyalty, forbearance, self-restraint and a lot of other qualities you wouldn't need if you'd stayed single."  Just as there are privileges and responsibilities for Christian married couples, so there are for Christian singles as well.  God would not have the Christian single be idle while they wait for 'the love of their life' to come.  The time spent waiting for 'Mr. or Miss Perfect' is best spent enthusiastically and faithfully serving the Lord.  While he was in no way discouraging marriage, Paul the apostle states that there are great advantages to being a Christian single.  He writes, " But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: [33] But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife. [34] There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband." (1 Cor. 7:32-34 )   William White aptly wrote:  "Adults who happen to be single are not more important than any other group in the church, but they are as important. They are not in a ‘hallway’ unto marriage but in a ‘living’ room full of potential and possibilities, which may or may not have an entrance leading to marriage but has many doors that lead to ministry."   

I want to encourage every adult Christian Single to make the most of their unmarried. life. The advantages and opportunities available to the single person are plentiful.  One wonderful opportunity open to singles is to serve the Lord on a foreign field, especially as a short term missionary.  I  have taken well over a dozen such short term mission  trips and I am convinced that our Holiness missionaries long for faithful and adequate helpers in their work for the Lord.  I realize this is not for everyone, especially those with serious physical health problems or those who are not spiritually mature or stable.   For all others, why don't you pray about it and talk to your pastor concerning this wide open door of opportunity?   In the meantime, become active and faithful in your home church in whatever capacity you are able.  It is my firm belief that if you are not doing something for God in your home church now, you will be of little use in a foreign mission field.  As a single Christian,  you have on average more time to commit to the things of the Lord than those with spouses and children, so take full advantage of this period of your life by giving all you can in the work of the Lord.  If you will do this, your singleness will prove to be a tremendous blessing, and not be a curse!

In closing, I want to include an article which I came across in my research. It comes from the book entitled The Rich Single Life; I believe that it will encourage you if you take the time to read and meditate upon it.

"Fan the Flame: Don’t be content just to keep the fire burning—fan the flame! Disciplines like prayer, evangelism, worship, and servanthood will both increase your zeal and inspire others to greater passion in God. For example, Debbie is a single sister in our church, and a highly successful manager in a national company.

 Is she known in the church for her business leadership? No, and she doesn’t seek to be. She is known for prayer. She is an intercessor who regularly gathers folks at her home for times of prayer. Sylvia is a single woman in another church. She is a banker who doesn’t let that often dry profession rob her radiant joy. She loves the lost with her life, and attracts them with her spirit. These women contribute in many other ways, but their primary vision is that the church maintain a burden for the lost and a heart for God. I don’t know where we’d be without them and the many others like them. Deb and Sylvia are doing more than tending the fire, they’re fanning the flame in themselves, and warming us all in the glow.

 Pass the Torch:  Hannah More was a woman of extraordinary talents. An accomplished playwright, she traveled in the best circles of London society in the late 1700s. Her faith was sincere, but carefully adapted to her secular lifestyle. The deaths of some of her closest friends shook her and sent her on a quest to understand the faith of her childhood. In time she found her friends changing, and her heart as well. She met people who were serious about applying their faith to real-life dilemmas, and they lovingly challenged her to do the same. Encouraged by her new pastor, John Newton (who wrote the hymn 'Amazing Grace'), she caught a vision. God had given her intelligence, gifting, position, and wealth, and she wanted to spend it all for him. Initially her “consecrated pen” became her ministry, and she produced many widely read tracts, dramas, and essays addressing the problems of the day from a Christian perspective. Her writings helped stem the tide in England of a revolutionary anarchy that had already devastated France. With her longtime friend William Wilberforce she helped overthrow slavery in England.

She became one of the most important benefactors to the ministries of John and Charles Wesley. In time she and her sisters developed a burden for the poor and, venturing out of their comfortable upper-class surroundings, created an education and evangelism program in one of London’s poorest areas. Yet Hannah

More also was deeply committed to the discipling of young women in the faith, serving them with her pen and her life. She became the most influential woman in England, even though she never held a position in any power structure.

What made Hannah More special? She had vision for a life beyond personal accomplishment. She worked within the biblical limits of her gifting and calling. She had a  commitment to her local Christian community that nourished her faith. She was obedient to the promptings of God. She expressed her trust in God through the giving of her resources and life. She took Paul’s admonition to 'train younger women' (Tit 2:3-4) seriously. In short, not only did she fan the flame in her life and her church, she gave her life to passing it on beyond her generation and social group. We have a number of Hannah Mores in our church, any one of whom could carve out an impressive individual ministry for herself. But each is having a far greater impact by embracing the womanly call to stir up the fire of God in the midst of his people. Every Christian single woman has the opportunity to be .......a Hannah More.

 The temptations to give in to the culture are real, and the  choices you make are crucial. Which world will you live in, which Kingdom will have your allegiance?"

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