Daily Reading: 1 Corinthians 7
To the unmarried... To the married... To the rest... (1 Corinthians 7.8, 10, 12)
Devotional Thought: In 1 Corinthians 7, the Apostle Paul addresses three groups: 1) Unmarried Christians; 2) Christians married to Christians; Christians married to non-Christians (The rest…). He gives each group a unique message for their situation:
To the unmarried Christians, he speaks of maintaining sexual purity and self-control. There are sexual urges in all of God’s children, but these urges are to be fulfilled only within a committed, Christ-centered marriage. And, Paul views marriage – as does the whole of the Bible and the sum of human history – as between a man and a woman.
To Christians married to Christians he speaks of self-control and commitment. When the Spirit of God is in you both, he is in your home. In a home where Christ is Lord, there will be respect, love, and mutual submission. (Ephesians 5.21-33).
In addressing Christians married to non-Christians, Paul insists that the believing spouse remain faithful to the unbelieving partner. Paul has to walk a fine line here. He doesn’t want to allow divorce, but he recognizes that life is not always black and white. There are times – through abandonment, violence, or infidelity – that a non-Christian spouse "leaves" a Christian spouse (See Malachi 2.16 for these three categories). At those times, Paul says divorce is an unhappy alternative to staying together.
A serious reader of 1 Corinthians 7 will notice that Paul doesn’t mention a fourth category:
Non-Christians. The reason is simple. Paul has no authority over them. They do not accept the Lordship of Christ, the teachings of the Bible, or the standards of God. We should take note of this. Our best defense of marriage is not to insist that non-Christians live up to our definition of marriage. It is, rather, to live out God's plan for marriage ourselves.
Prayer: Lord, in our morally confused generation, it is easy to lose sight of God's plan for Christian marriage. Help us to live according to the Word of God and not according to the latest notions of political correctness. Amen.
Psalm of the Day: Psalm 109:21-25
21 But you, Sovereign LORD, help me for your name’s sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me.
22 For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.
23 I fade away like an evening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees give way from fasting; my body is thin and gaunt.
25 I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads.
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