If you are single....

Highland Watchman said:

Not to nit pick, but would this not indicate that you are single by choice?

Granted, I can see where the desire to find someone special would be a major desire that I think would be normative to human nature (as in, everyone has this desire, even if it is only a slight inclination)... but I would almost think that many people, for one reason or another, if they are single, it is through choice that they are single... Otherwise, we would marry the first unattached person of the opposite sex that we see.

So I guess to redefine things, we are intentionally single until we meet someone that we would consider as compatible to us and God directs circumstances to point toward pursuit of the relationship... Though for this "preparation time", be content and pursue the LORD above all things...

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the_man said:

Hmm, yes, good points. Let me elaborate on what was said to get the full sense of my meaning.

When I said not by my choice I meant that I have no control over the circumstances that would require me to marry. i.e., I cannot concoct circumstances to meet and marry a desirable mate. That is out of my control. If it were in my control, I would be married to her. Hence, my singleness, if I could do anything about it, is not my choice.

However, once we introduce the Christian world view, we realize that our lives are no longer our own. We give up our desires, or wants and needs to God and He (because He is sovereign) chooses for us today who will be married and who will not be (among other things). So in this sense, our singleness is a consequence of the choice we made to give up that desire to God.

In both circumstances, I do make the assumption that we are all sensible people that will not be so casual as to marry just anyone. It brings us to our third choice which I alluded to in the first circumstance. That there are requirements for marriage. We can choose to marry whomever is willing, but in most cases, that would be terribly unwise.

Hope I didn't loose anyone.

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Highland Watchman said:

So then, following your reasoning, none of us are single completely by our independent choice... So then, the answer to the question "are you single by choice?" is really yes and no, for we have chosen to follow God and to trust HIS direction, we choose to not pursue someone simply because they are not taken yet, and we choose to keep going... but at the same time, we can not control our circumstances or the timing of how anything happens... does this sound about right?

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