LCM, part 1

Objective

to understand God’s purpose in singleness and in marriage

In this lesson

Why singles get married

Difference between single, alone, and lonely

Difference between single and being married

Difference between loving and falling in love

Questions to ask

who wants to get married in 5 years, 10 years?

who wants to remain single?

who’s ready for marriage?

how do you know when you are ready for marriage?

Why singles get married

Some are afraid to die single

some want to run away from problems

Family problems

personal problems

financial problems

Some are obligated because of sexual misconduct

Some due to physical attractions

some fell in love

the general consensus is - to FILL A NEED

The myth of singleness

myth no 1 - if you are single, you are lonely

modern society associates happiness with a sexual partner

teens laugh at virgins boys and girls

myth no 2 - if you are single you are not complete

secular music is full of songs of loneliness without a lover

myth no 3 - if you are single you will not mature

some parents force their children to get married in order to become responsible

if these were true, we should not have children running around in busy streets

Truth no 1 - God made us singles

Genesis 1:26–27 NKJV

26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Truth no 2 - God blessed us as singles

Genesis 1:28 NKJV

28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Truth no 3 - the problems of most borken marriages are the results of singles who married without recognizing the benefits of singleness

Matthew 19:3–8 NKJV

3 The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” 4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7 They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” 8 He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

God created them male and female (singles)

separation happens due to “hardness of heart”

Advantages and Disadvantages between Single and Married

1 Cor 7