1 Corinthians 7:32-35 I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs — how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world — how he can please his wife — and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world — how she can please her husband. I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.
Paul advises the Corinthians to remain as free as possible from the entanglements of this world. He wants them to live lives one hundred percent committed to Christ, dedicated to Christ's affairs and not their own. I would like you to be free from concern. He is not necessarily talking about being married or not: he is talking about how they should look at life and live lives fully devoted to God. Christians should be totally in, willing to give all for the purposes of Christ. I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord. The right way, the only way for Paul, was to be completely dedicated to Christ and his message. For Paul, any other way would be a failure. Paul was taught this message first on the road to Damascus when he met Jesus: “Get up," the Lord said, "and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do." (Acts 22:10) In Damascus, Ananias came to see him and told Paul: "The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name." (Acts 22:14-16) Paul's assignment was very direct and pointed to what he must do in his life. However, Paul believed all of God's children have a special purpose for their lives, for they are all members of Christ's body, and as members of his body they must fulfill their positions in that body. When Paul describes the entire body growing up with Christ as the head, he says, From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:16) To do so, they must be committed to Christ' affairs and not their own affairs.
Jesus' teachings and his life clearly reveal the need for our lives to be dedicated to God's purposes and not our own. He loved the Father and did everything to please him. We claim to love Jesus, but are our lives lived for Christ in first place as we claim? Or are we living primarily for ourselves: our needs, wants, and connections to this world. Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10:37-39) Paul took up his cross, his purpose in life, and followed Christ in everything that he did. Christ was the center of his life. When the disciples were called, they immediately and wholeheartedly left everything to follow Jesus. The world's affairs were put behind them. Peter states this truth in Luke 18:
Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!” Jesus' call to them was definitive, follow me one hundred percent, and I will make you fishers of men. This is our call no matter of what position we have in the body of Christ. He will make us fishers of men because we will reflect God through our lives. This reflection of God will convict men of their sins, causing many to turn to the Creator, becoming children of God. When we live in the
right way in undivided devotion to the Lord, we will be witnesses to the world, ambassadors of Christ. Paul presents this challenge to the Corinthians: live the right way for God's purposes, not your own. When we read Paul's words, we have to consider whether our devotion to God is undivided. Can a mother make her home a haven for her family and Jesus at the same time? Can a businessman make his company the most successful among others in his field while nurturing his faith and witnessing to others? The answer is yes and no. The answer is no if one is not constantly aware of the presence of Jesus. The answer can only be yes with an intentional will to seek God's will first and foremost. As Jesus said, But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)
Are we living the "right way" according to today's verses or are we mostly concerned about our own affairs? Is Christ and his message the primary focus of our lives or even our secondary concern? Where do we place Christ in the decisions we make every day? Paul tells the Corinthians that serving Christ is so important that perhaps they should not get married. For Paul, Christ was everything, the first thing in morning and the last thing at night. He wanted the Corinthian Christians to be just as dedicated as he was to living for Christ. In life or in death, Christ was all. As he wrote to the church in Philippi: I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:20-21) For us in the twenty-first century, is Jesus Christ the center of our lives or is He at best on the periphery? Is He the cherished guest in our homes, preferred above everyone else, or is He basically ignored, lost in the clamor of daily living, only brought forward when we feel stressed or in need? We will spend hours upon hours avoiding him. His voice in us does not compete well with the din around us. We think of him being silent within us, but we have caused his voice to seem silent in the presence of our blaring technology. An axiom Paul struggled with is that flesh will do what it really wants to do when we yield ourselves to its will. If we want to oppose this axiom of the flesh, we must know the Word and follow it through God's power. These verses say it well: For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (Romans 8:13-14) The children of God do His will, commit their lives to His life, and follow him by the voice of the Holy Spirit. Are we being people of the Spirit or of the flesh? Paul asks the Corinthians to be people of the Spirit. The rewards are great for those who will follow Christ all the way.
“I tell you the truth,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.” (Luke 18:28-3) Today, choose life in the Spirit, life abundant and full. God bless you!
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