1 Corinthians 7:32

1 Corinthians 7:32 says, But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: Paul continues to warn people that they should not be careless about the things of this world.  Even if they are not to be a priority of how we live, they are non the less our responsibility to use carefully, not just to satisfy our own desires.  Whether single or married, we are not to allow the things of this world to become a priority in life.  If we are not careful, material possessions can begin to own us more than we own them.  If the majority of our time becomes devoted to maintaining our material possessions, we soon have no time for God.  Verse thirty-three adds, But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife.  Paul said that the married man cares for material things so that he can please his wife.  A husband should care about meeting the needs of his wife, but if the desire to give her more and more becomes more important than following God's will, then that becomes a problem.  Verse thirty-four continues, There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.  Paul applies this teaching to the wife as well.  As with the husband wanting to please his wife, so does the wife wish to please her husband.  I believe that the key to both is remembering that Christ is to be the head of the marriage.  When we put God first, then all other things will fail in their correct place.  In verse thirty-five, Paul states, And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.  Paul said that he was not trying to make things confusing, but that he was attempting only to get them to understand that God's will always had to come first.  Verse thirty-six adds, But if any man think that he behaveth himself uncomely toward his virgin, if she pass the flower of her age, and need so require, let him do what he will, he sinneth not: let them marry. Paul applies his teachings to even a person's thoughts here.  There was the thought in that day that a woman needed a husband to provide for her material needs, and that if a young girl passed a certain age without being married, there could be something morally corrupt about her.  Since we as followers of Christ today do not have this same mindset, I believe we can best apply this idea to being married before any sexual activity takes place.  Verse thirty-seven continues, Nevertheless he that standeth stedfast in his heart, having no necessity, but hath power over his own will, and hath so decreed in his heart that he will keep his virgin, doeth well.  I believe this supports what I just started.  A person must determine even before temptation may come that they are going to remain pure of sexual sin, or any sin for that matter. Verse thirty-eight says, So then he that giveth her in marriage doeth well; but he that giveth her not in marriage doeth better.  Again, we have to understand the world that Paul lived in where the father was free to arrange a marriage for his daughter.  Paul said even in those dangerous days that it was good to give a daughter in marriage but was better if he didn't.  Paul was still thinking of all the added responsibility that a wife had, I believe, and was not advocating that people should not get married. Verse thirty-nine adds, The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.  Paul then wrote concerning widows.  He said that death freed on from marriage vows.  Some religions today teach that two people are married for time everlasting, even beyond death, but God tells us that marriage is for this life only.  A widow was free to marry once more.  Verse forty continues, But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the Spirit of God.  Paul then says she would be happier if she remained unmarried in his opinion.  We can safely say that marriage brings responsibilities that a single person does not have, and that parenthood brings even more responsibility.  Still, God ordained marriage and our responsibility is to assure that His will remains the priority in life.  We cannot let a desire to give more and more materially to a spouse or children come between us and spreading the gospel, in both word and deed.