Contentment in singlehood

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Lovette said:
You've got the wrong translation, in KJV it reads, "lead about A sister, A wife as well as other apostles," the original Greek word for "wife" means woman in general, not Peter's or any apostle's wife in partifuclar. Besides, the context is about Paul's defense of his apostleship, which has nothing to do with marriage. By no means can that be taken as a proof of any apostle's marital status.
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I don't have the wrong translation. I read the KJV regularly. Also, your condemnation of marriage by overextending what Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 7 is ridiculous, if I may be frank for a moment. The same Paul regularly instructed husbands to love their wives, and to love them as Christ loved the church. To listen to you, one would think he told them all to divorce them. Anyhow, I am not revisiting this endless cycle of nonsense. I momentarily popped in just to say that Peter was married.​
 
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passion84god said:
I don't have the wrong translation. I read the KJV regularly. Also, your condemnation of marriage by overextending what Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 7 is ridiculous, if I may be frank for a moment. The same Paul regularly instructed husbands to love their wives, and to love them as Christ loved the church. To listen to you, one would think he told them all to divorce them. Anyhow, I am not revisiting this endless cycle of nonsense. I momentarily popped in just to say that Peter was married.​
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What Paul instructed is that married stay married, singles stay single, don't join the church to escape from an existing marriage, and don't join the church to get married either. Yes, husbands ought to love their wives, that's for HUSBANDS, not bachelors who have no wives to love in the first place.

And Peter was no longer married, because he himself said he and other disciples had left all to follow Christ.
 
Lovette said:
And Peter was no longer married, because he himself said he and other disciples had left all to follow Christ.
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Stop lying to yourself. Peter wrote:

1 Peter 3:7

King James Bible
Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

Peter instructed husbands to dwell with their wives, while giving them honor, because they were heirs together of the grace of the life. He did so that their prayers might not be hindered, and you would have us to believe that Peter left his own wife?

Give it a rest. You're only deceiving yourself.​
 
Lovette said:
You've got the wrong translation, in KJV it reads, "lead about a sister, a wife as well as other apostles," the original Greek word for "wife" means woman in general, not Peter's or any apostle's wife in partifuclar. By no means can htat be taken as a proof of any apostle's marital status.
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KJV? It is more accurate in a very few places. Paul already had a number of women in his group. So what you are saying is redundant. He was talking about his right to a wife. That's obvious from the context and what we know about Paul's ministry generally.
 
passion84god said:
Stop lying to yourself. Peter wrote:

1 Peter 3:7

King James Bible
Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

Peter instructed husbands to dwell with their wives, while giving them honor, because they were heirs together of the grace of the life. He did so that their prayers might not be hindered, and you would have us to believe that Peter left his own wife?

Give it a rest. You're only deceiving yourself.​
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You're the one who's essentially accusing Peter of being a liar. Peter and the disciples had forsaken all to follow Jesus, that includes their family, defined by Lord Jesus himself, Lk. 14:26.

Then Peter said, “See, we have left all and followed You.” (Lk. 18:28)
Then Peter answered and said to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?” (Matt. 19:27)
"“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. " (Lk. 14:26-27)
So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. (Lk. 14:33)
“A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ (Lk. 14:16-20)
 
Lovette said:
What Paul instructed is that married stay married, singles stay single, don't join the church to escape from an existing marriage, and don't join the church to get married either. Yes, husbands ought to love their wives, that's for HUSBANDS, not bachelors who have no wives to love in the first place.

And Peter was no longer married, because he himself said he and other disciples had left all to follow Christ.
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You twist scripture to suit your own bias. Jesus said that God hates divorce. Peter happened to be listening in when Jesus said that. I will say this again: Paul was referring to a particular set of circumstances. He also said that it was his opinion. He also said that it was not sin to marry.

Paul also said that forbidding marriage was evil. 1 Timothy 4:1-3. If marriage was so bad, Paul would have left out that bit.
 
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Gideon300 said:
KJV? It is more accurate in a very few places. Paul already had a number of women in his group. So what you are saying is redundant. He was talking about his right to a wife. That's obvious from the context and what we know about Paul's ministry generally.
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That's for those who're already married, they have a right to evangelize to their spouses and lead them in spirit. It's not dating advice.
 
Gideon300 said:
You twist scripture to suit your own bias. Jesus said that God hates divorce. Peter happened to be listening in when Jesus said that. I will say this again: Paul was referring to a particular set of circumstances. He also said that it was his opinion. He also said that it was not sin to marry.

Paul also said that forbidding marriage was evil. 1 Timothy 4:1-3. If marriage was so bad, Paul would have left out that bit.
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All things are lawful, but all things are not helpful. That particular set of circumstances makes life harder for married couples. Yes, it's not sin to marry, but what did Paul say next? "Nevertheless such will have trouble in the flesh, but I would spare you." It's so convenient for you to intentionally leave out the next verse, isn't it. In 1 Tim. 4 Paul also warned about perilous times, which is exactly the kind of time we've living in. You boomers have lived the most peaceful and prosperous time of 75 years in perhaps the entire human history, from 1946 to 2020, but that is over.
 
Gideon300 said:
Paul also said that forbidding marriage was evil. 1 Timothy 4:1-3. If marriage was so bad, Paul would have left out that bit.
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Forbidding marriage was evil? Hmm, let's see. The Supreme Court legalized homosexual marriage, were they honoring 1 Tim. 4:1-3? Is it evil to forbid such union? But that was abominable, marriage is between man and woman! Alright, what about polygamy? That was the norm in the OT, Jacob practically had had four wives, it was the norm for Mormon, is it evil to forbid it? Yes, ONE man and ONE woman! What about fraudulant marriage? Greem card marriage? Coerced marriage as the result of sex trafficking? Child bride? That was the norm in the past, Margaret Beauford, mother of Henry the VII, gave birth to him at merely 13; Empress Sisi of Austria married Emperor Franz Joseph at about 15; Virgin Mary herself was very likely betrothed as a teenager; by today's standard these would most definitely be condemned and forbidden;

Oh, and here's a messy one - what about divorcees? Divorced, not widowed, are they allowed to remarry, and should they? According to Lord Jesus, "whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.” I suppose adultery is 'so bad", so much so that it was explicitly forbidden by God, "thou shalt not commit adultery!"
 
Lovette said:
Forbidding marriage was evil? Hmm, let's see. The Supreme Court legalized homosexual marriage, were they honoring 1 Tim. 4:1-3? Is it evil to forbid such union? But that was abominable, marriage is between man and woman! Alright, what about polygamy? That was the norm in the OT, Jacob practically had had four wives, it was the norm for Mormon, is it evil to forbid it? Yes, ONE man and ONE woman! What about fraudulant marriage? Greem card marriage? Coerced marriage as the result of sex trafficking? Child bride? That was the norm in the past, Margaret Beauford, mother of Henry the VII, gave birth to him at merely 13; Empress Sisi of Austria married Emperor Franz Joseph at about 15; Virgin Mary herself was very likely betrothed as a teenager; by today's standard these would most definitely be condemned and forbidden;

Oh, and here's a messy one - what about divorcees? Divorced, not widowed, are they allowed to remarry, and should they? According to Lord Jesus, "whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.” I suppose adultery is 'so bad", so much so that it was explicitly forbidden by God, "thou shalt not commit adultery!"
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Adultery is bad, so is fornication. Law does not stop either. There is a thing in most people called a sex drive. It's as natural as thirst, hunger and the desire to breath. Some people have low sex drive and that makes it easy for them to remain single. For others, marriage is a legitimate means to fulfill that God given desire. It usually results in children. That is also God's will.

The Bible does not forbid polygamy. Paul says elders should have one wife. Oh, sorry, Paul is dead set against marriage, so it seems that he's contradicting himself. Polygamy is outlawed by secular authorities. Christians should obey such authorities unless it requires disobedience to God. You may find the law changing as Islam takes over the West.

I don't know why people assume that Mary was a teenager when betrothed to Joseph. As far as I can tell, there is not one word about her age in the NT. Societies change over time. Secular authorities are increasingly turning away from Biblical standards in the West. I would not be surprised if the UK allows child marriage soon. The Muslim influence will see to that.

The world does not follow God's standard for marriage. There should be no surprise in that.
 
Then you may understand what I'm getting at, don't accuse me of anti-marriage. We are in this world but not of this world, and since marriage is for all mankind, and marriage is deviating further and further from God's standard, you get married, you'll deviate further and further from God's standard, so better to have no marriage at all than ungodly marriage.


BTW, the bible does forbids polygamy for kings, they shall not "multiply wives", Deut. 17:17. King Solomon multiplied wives, he brought in foreign brides and their idols, which resulted in the fall of Israel in the following generatiosn.
 
Lovette said:
He who can be trusted with little can be trusted with much; he who's dishonest with little will be dishonest with much. If a person can'a adequately govern themselves, can't orderly run their own lives, can't financially sustain themselves, and that I believe is "most" or "many:, how can they govern a spouse and kids? How can they orderly run a family? How can they sustain others?
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You believe that "most" people are unfit for marriage? How do you know that? Do you, personally, know "most people"?
 
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RodColeman said:
You believe that "most" people are unfit for marriage? How do you know that? Do you, personally, know "most people"?
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No, "most" people fall short of God's high standard of marriage, including most self identified Christians.
 
RodColeman said:
Most people are imperfect sinners? Well, yeah, I think we all know that already. If that's what you mean.
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No, most people will be disappointed, by themselves, by their partners, by their marriage life, etc. Expectation minus reality equals disappointment.
 
Lovette said:
No, most people will be disappointed, by themselves, by their partners, by their marriage life, etc. Expectation minus reality equals disappointment.
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So.... don't bother doing anything risky? I mean, sure, I guess you can approach life that way.
 
Lovette said:
No, most people will be disappointed, by themselves, by their partners, by their marriage life, etc. Expectation minus reality equals disappointment.
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A true Christian will focus on God for the resource of peace, joy....then it will be easy on self, family, spouse...

If focus on human, all are flawed.

No need to idolize human.
 
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RodColeman said:
So.... don't bother doing anything risky? I mean, sure, I guess you can approach life that way.
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I don't come to church for dating, even if I do there's no partner available. And as I said, I'm too old and too busy and too cynical for that, there's no time or energy anyway.
 
Churchgoer said:
A true Christian will focus on God for the resource of peace, joy....then it will be easy on self, family, spouse...

If focus on human, all are flawed.

No need to idolize human.
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Yes, and that's why it's better not to marry at all than risk marrying an ungodly partner and/or in an ungodly way.
 
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