“But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and his interests are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. This I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.”

Finally, Paul arrives at the pinnacle of his crescendo and clearly promotes the advantages of singleness in serving the Lord, which he describes in verse 35 as “undistracted devotion to the Lord.” Of course there are many things that can distract the Christian, the foremost of which is sin. But many good or even benign activities can distract us from that which is most excellent. It is said that the enemy of that which is excellent is often that which is merely good. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul describes what is excellent:

“I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3:13–14)

The Corinthians were completely distracted from the excellent. Relationships had become simply a means to their own selfish ends. In combatting this, I believe Paul uses hyperbole, as did the Lord Jesus who said things like,

“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26)

Paul speaks of comparative principles to explain that the excellent is far greater than the good. Certainly, a married couple can serve the Lord faithfully as a team. If believers contemplate becoming married, the highest reason should be so that they can serve God more faithfully together than alone. Singleness, as Paul pointed out earlier, can have its struggles with sexual temptation for those not gifted for singleness. These statements are not meant by Paul as “restraints,” but as insights from one highly focused servant of Christ. Singleness has a distinct advantage of not having competing God-ordained commitments of time that come with marriage (“free from concern” of marital responsibilities).

Lord, I want to live full-heartedly, unreservedly for You in my present situation.