Marital Status?
Marital Status?
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come. (2 Cor. 5:17)
“Rhonda, we’re just concerned. Your father and I married when we were twenty-two. You’re almost thirty.” Rhonda felt the familiar tightening in her stomach as she tried to smile politely. She knew her mom meant well, but this conversation always made her feel like there was something wrong with her.
“Mom, I’ll get married when God brings the right man, and if that isn’t until later—or never—then it will be all right.”
“I know, I know. Your father and I think if you just tried harder.”
“I don’t know, Mom,” Rhonda said, growing impatient.
“Because I think I have the perfect guy for you.”
After her mother left, Rhonda threw herself on the couch in exasperation. Lord, am I not married because there is something wrong with me? she asked. Suddenly, it occurred to her that Jesus was never married. She actually laughed out loud as she thought of how silly it had been to equate her worth with her marital status.
Even well-meaning people can make singles feel like misfits if they aren’t dating or engaged. In Mark 12:25, Jesus says that people won’t be married in heaven. Paul advises that some people shouldn’t marry so they can serve God without distraction. The truth is, God doesn’t look at us as an incomplete person if we aren’t married. We are loved by Him simply because we are His children, regardless of our marital status. Our relationship to Jesus is what matters, and God sent Jesus to die for the unmarried, the married, the widowed, the divorced . . . for everyone.