1 Corinthians 7:28 – Single?

Yet if you ever should be marrying, also, you did not sin. And if the virgin should be marrying, she did not sin. Yet affliction in the flesh will such be having. Yet I am sparing you.

1 Corinthians 7 deals about marriage but the chapter is by no means a recommendation to marry. Paul’s motto is: those who marry do well, those who do not marry do better. It is not a question of good or evil for Paul, but of good and better. In other words: realize what you do when you get married and what the consequences are.

Whoever marries will have “affliction in the flesh”. The (Dutch) saying goes: “whoever marries halves his rights and doubles his duties”. Few will be aware of this on the day of the wedding. And who recognizes the difficulties that will inevitably come? Or the worries specific to marital and family life? Taking care of each other can weigh heavily. Physically but also financially, mentally and relationally.

Paul does not burden anyone but warns. Those who do not marry save themselves a lot of “affliction”. For Paul, the unmarried is not an incomplete person. Or pathetic. And neither is it unwise. Paul speaks from his own experience. And that is how he encourages the believing singles!

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