I am very confident that no one reading this finds it distasteful or offensive to receive gifts, especially from those who love and care for us. That is in large measure why all of us, young and old alike, look forward to birthdays and Christmas, for these events are generally characterized by the receipt of gifts. But I wonder how many of us have taken opportunity to consider how two mutually exclusive places that all of us can be grouped into, the place of marriage or being single, can both be viewed as gifts and honorable in God’s eyes? The apostle Paul explains how this is so in chapter 7 of First Corinthians, and reminds us that ultimately, it is a third gift, the one of redemption, that brings honor and dignity to both marriage and singleness.
Pastor Flaa
