Is it worth it as a single?

To stay physically pure?

Purity can be a difficult song to sing for singles of all ages. The world blasts the melody of unrestrained physical license in our ears all the live long day. And it's a catchy tune. One that can haunt us even in times of sweet communion with God. Is it really worth it to learn God's standards of purity and follow them?

To prepare well, come early, stay late, and listen long for the body of Christ's sake?

Think about your Sunday and midweek services for a moment. As a single, you can throw your strength into certain ministries by arriving early (no family to get out the door), staying late (no one to get home), listening long to fellow believers (no distractions to your attention), and preparing well for music, teaching, hospitality, nursery etc....and those who are married quite frankly cannot give that way. You can pour yourself out for the body of Christ (and not even just on church days). But is it worth it? 

To wrestle with what it means to "care for the things of the Lord?"

I mean, what was Paul thinking when he wrote that? Didn't he know the quatrillion details of living life that a single must slodge through every day with no one by their side? And yet 1 Corinthians 7 assumes that caring for the things of the Lord will be a distinguishing characteristic of men and women who are unmarried. Is it worth it to wrestle with what that should look like? 

To stay emotionally pure?

His name was Jason. I was 12 years old. He was tall, dark, broad shouldered, and acne pocked. A two legged dreamboat. I blush to think of the long hours I spent thinking of our future together, and the special relationship we had (never mind that it existed solely in my brain). Oh the thrill of meeting his gaze at Wednesday night teen meetings, and how I forced every word he spoke through the sieve of "he loves me, he loves me not"... 

I wish I could say it never happened again. But, although it's become more subtle and perhaps a bit less hormone-driven with age, I still do regular battle with keeping myself emotionally pure. The fact is, we have no right to someone else (even in our mind) until we have their ring on our finger. Is it worth it to keep ourselves free from these emotional attachments? 

To train 'free' times for spiritual growth?

A married friend once told me: "One thing I miss about singleness is all the discretionary time I had to spend in prayer and Bible reading." And, I'll admit, my initial reaction was an inward guffaw that may have erupted as a snort/cough. Why? 

Because as a single, we do have pockets of "free" time that marrieds don't. But I'll be honest, when I have a free hour my first reaction is not to reach for my Bible or bow my head in prayer. And yet, that is my unique privilege as a single. Is it really worth it to train some of these only-in-singleness-moments for my spiritual growth? 

To hope in God while walking through hardships unique to being single?

We all know what they are. Those trials only singles walk through. Hard things. Struggles others would rather not know about, and don't "get" when we try to explain. Is it worth it to have faith in God through these things? 

To pursue situations where selfishness will be exposed? 

Most likely, if you're single you have fewer things in your life to "aid" in confronting and rooting out selfishness. I mean, we get to go to bed and wake up of our own.free.will. people! And the tendency can be to avoid putting ourselves in relationships or situations where we're going to have to prefer the things of someone else before ourselves. Is it worth it to seek out situations that will confront our selfishness? 

.................................................

This is Beth's take on a cliff-hanger (aka: there's no way I can do justice to each of these questions without making this post ridiculous in its length.) So I leave you to ponder these questions. How would you respond to each one? How have you answered them in your own life? 

And Lord willing, I will share my own conclusions and their firm foundation next week. I'll give you a sneak preview though: 

YES.

Beth