1 Cor 7

Is marrying a sign of weakness?

Here's a link to the NASB version of 1 Corinthians 7. Paul says that "it is good for a man not to touch a woman" or in the NIV version, "It is good for a man not to marry". He later says "But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion". And so if I'm not wrong, Paul is basically saying that if you can't control your "urges", then get married. This leads me to thinking that that doesn't really sound like too noble a reason to get married. Is marriage for the Christian merely a permit to consummate love and therefore only necessary if the Christian man/woman can no longer control his/her "burning passion"?

I profess to not knowing much here. But let me venture a guess anyways. Maybe Paul is just saying 'you know, if you're perfectly fine being alone and have no 'burning passion' for anybody, it would be better for you to remain unmarried 'cos our time here is short and you could better serve God without the distractions that marriage brings along with it'. And then Paul says 'but if God has made you such that you long for more, that is fine. You are beautifully and wonderfully made. So yeah, nothing wrong there. Get married - it is right.' I guess the problem might lie in thinking that sex is perverse (which a lot of it is nowadays, but that's not as God intended it to be). Come to think of it, if I were God, i'd just tell everyone BE ALONE AND WORSHIP ME ALL DAY! Because He tells us that He's sufficient for us; that just as God looks after the birds of the air and the lillies of the fields, how much more will God look after us. But thank God - He gave us a need for fellowship and provides for us accordingly. For example, God made Adam a companion in Eve.

I' m not so sure about Paul's words: "but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world" and basically that the result is that he is somewhat distanced from God. What about power-packed tag-team couples like Edmund and Anne Chan, my dad and my mom, and countless couples who complement each other so well that it makes their respective ministries that much stronger. Paul obviously didn't have the opportunity of realizing what a partner can do to enrich and support you in your love life with God. But maybe his absolute abondonment to God meant he didn't even have to think of that - no need!

I just wonder then, why Christians don't all strive to be celibate and full of devotion to God, as Paul did. In striving for giving God our all in our short livtimes, isn't that what Paul professes to be the best way?

In conclusion, as Paul says, "Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am. However, each man has his own gift from God, one in this manner, and another in that." I guess each person is alotted a differenct purpose and you just have to seek that out.