Day 21 - 1 Corinthians 7:32-40

32 I want you to be free from the concerns of this life. An unmarried man can spend his time doing the Lord’s work and thinking how to please him. 33 But a married man has to think about his earthly responsibilities and how to please his wife. 34 His interests are divided. In the same way, a woman who is no longer married or has never been married can be devoted to the Lord and holy in body and in spirit. But a married woman has to think about her earthly responsibilities and how to please her husband. 35 I am saying this for your benefit, not to place restrictions on you. I want you to do whatever will help you serve the Lord best, with as few distractions as possible.

36 But if a man thinks that he’s treating his fiancée improperly and will inevitably give in to his passion, let him marry her as he wishes. It is not a sin. 37 But if he has decided firmly not to marry and there is no urgency and he can control his passion, he does well not to marry. 38 So the person who marries his fiancée does well, and the person who doesn’t marry does even better.

39 A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. If her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but only if he loves the Lord. 40 But in my opinion it would be better for her to stay single, and I think I am giving you counsel from God’s Spirit when I say this.

Tori's Comments:

Hey! This applies quite nicely to me.

Singleness sounds so nice to me right now, worrying about relationships just seems so...unnecessarily stressful at this point in my life.

Terrie's Comments:
Once again I say that we put too much pressure on people to be married or to be in a relationship.  We should be placing our efforts on being interested in where people are at in their relationship to God instead of in their relationship with others.  

Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!

Day 20 - 1 Corinthians 7:25-31

25 Now regarding your question about the young women who are not yet married. I do not have a command from the Lord for them. But the Lord in his mercy has given me wisdom that can be trusted, and I will share it with you. 26 Because of the present crisis, I think it is best to remain as you are. 27 If you have a wife, do not seek to end the marriage. If you do not have a wife, do not seek to get married. 28 But if you do get married, it is not a sin. And if a young woman gets married, it is not a sin. However, those who get married at this time will have troubles, and I am trying to spare you those problems.

29 But let me say this, dear brothers and sisters: The time that remains is very short. So from now on, those with wives should not focus only on their marriage. 30 Those who weep or who rejoice or who buy things should not be absorbed by their weeping or their joy or their possessions. 31 Those who use the things of the world should not become attached to them. For this world as we know it will soon pass away.

Terrie's Comments:
I think whether we are married or single the bottom line that Paul is trying to get to is that we should not be absorbed by our relationships or our possessions.  Both are temporary.  Keeping our focus on things above instead of things of this world, that we tend to hold onto so close to our hearts.

Tori's Comments:

I'm assuming the present crisis is marriage troubles. Hence the past few days in a row's focus.

And suddenly the subject changes to what our focus on earth is. Everything we use is borrowed- time,    possessions, even emotions, it seems!

Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!

Day 19 - 1 Corinthians 7:17-24

17 Each of you should continue to live in whatever situation the Lord has placed you, and remain as you were when God first called you. This is my rule for all the churches. 18 For instance, a man who was circumcised before he became a believer should not try to reverse it. And the man who was uncircumcised when he became a believer should not be circumcised now. 19 For it makes no difference whether or not a man has been circumcised. The important thing is to keep God’s commandments.

20 Yes, each of you should remain as you were when God called you. 21 Are you a slave? Don’t let that worry you—but if you get a chance to be free, take it. 22 And remember, if you were a slave when the Lord called you, you are now free in the Lord. And if you were free when the Lord called you, you are now a slave of Christ. 23 God paid a high price for you, so don’t be enslaved by the world. 24 Each of you, dear brothers and sisters, should remain as you were when God first called you.

Tori's Comments:

"The important thing is to keep God's commandments"

Was circumcision not one of God's commandments?

That we should stay where we are when God calls us makes me think about how ALL Christians are missionaries where they are...

Terrie's Comments:
We are free in the Lord.  Yet we have been bought with a high price so we would not be enslaved by this world but would be able to be free to follow the Lord.  So just like we have been reminded before to keep our eyes fixed on our heavenly home.

Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!

Day 18 - 1 Corinthians 7:10-16

10 But for those who are married, I have a command that comes not from me, but from the Lord. A wife must not leave her husband. 11 But if she does leave him, let her remain single or else be reconciled to him. And the husband must not leave his wife.

12 Now, I will speak to the rest of you, though I do not have a direct command from the Lord. If a fellow believer has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to continue living with him, he must not leave her. 13 And if a believing woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to continue living with her, she must not leave him. 14 For the believing wife brings holiness to her marriage, and the believing husband brings holiness to his marriage. Otherwise, your children would not be holy, but now they are holy. 15 (But if the husband or wife who isn’t a believer insists on leaving, let them go. In such cases the believing husband or wife is no longer bound to the other, for God has called you to live in peace.) 16 Don’t you wives realize that your husbands might be saved because of you? And don’t you husbands realize that your wives might be saved because of you?

Terrie's Comments:
This passage has always intrigued me for a number of reasons.  Children are made holy by their parents believing.  Unbelieving spouses bring holiness to their marriages.  But the thing that is most curious to me is the fact that eternal salvation, is the reason that marriages where one spouse is not yet a believer, should remain together.  Like in every other relationship living in peace with each other is valuable.


Tori's Comments:

It's much more eternity-minded than I would have thought.

Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!

Day 17 - 1 Corinthians 7:1-9

7 Now regarding the questions you asked in your letter. Yes, it is good to abstain from sexual relations. 2 But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.

3 The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs. 4 The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife.

5 Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 But I wish everyone were single, just as I am. Yet each person has a special gift from God, of one kind or another.

8 So I say to those who aren’t married and to widows—it’s better to stay unmarried, just as I am. 9 But if they can’t control themselves, they should go ahead and marry. It’s better to marry than to burn with lust.

Tori's Comments:

The part that really sticks out to me at this point in my life is singleness. I go to a bible college [insert marriage joke here] and have been asked multiple times already, despite it being three weeks into the semester, whether I have found love yet. I understand some of it is teasing, but not all of it. And then I have to explain that I am going to bible college to actually gain knowledge. To use it to find a husband would be ridiculous and expensive.

Of course, I say this all in a loving way ;)

I will get off of my soapbox now. 

Note: I have read Terrie's section. I find it funny that she reads this through a married perspective and I through a single perspective. Well, maybe it isn't funny, but I found it so anyways. It just shows that as you move through life and find yourself in different stages, different passages and scriptures will impact you more.


Terrie's Comments:
I am married so I read this through married perspective.  This passage should clear it up in anyone's mind that using the absence of intimacy as a way to punish your spouse or to get your own way is not ok.  This is a an area of our marriages that should be guarded so that Satan cannot get in and destroy our marriages and our families.  It isn't the only area Satan likes to attack, but in our world of hyper sexuality I would guess it is becoming more and more a tool he can use to "steal kill and destroy" our families.  

Also we need to stop putting pressure on people who are able to be single and not be tempted to be married.  If God has called them to be single... awesome!  We need to learn to support and embrace singleness. 


Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!