Does having a strong and persistent sexual desire an indication that one is more suited for marriage? Is this a sign from the Holy Spirit that it is time for marriage? What does Paul mean by some people are gifted for singlehood? Does this mean they have fewer needs, including sexual and emotional? Can a person with strong needs be suited for singlehood?<\/p>\n\t
A strong sexual desire is not a sign. Signs are miraculous events to relay a message. For example, Hezekiah was given a sign that the prophecy concerning his recovery was true. The sign was the sun going backward. “And this is the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing which He has spoken: Behold, I will bring the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down with the sun on the sundial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward.” So the sun returned ten degrees on the dial by which it had gone down<\/em>” (Isaiah 38:7-8). The sun doesn’t naturally go backward, thus it was a sign. Having a strong sexual desire is quite natural in a young man; thus, it isn’t a sign, just a matter of the way you are.<\/p>\n In speaking of his being single, Paul said, “For I wish that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that<\/em>” (I Corinthians 7:6). Paul saw being without a spouse as an advantage in his particular situation. It meant he did not have to be concerned about a wife and children while his life was in danger because of his preaching of the gospel. “I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress — that it is good for a man to remain as he is: Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But even if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless such will have trouble in the flesh, but I would spare you<\/em>” (I Corinthians 7:26-28). Paul’s recommendation for being single was born out of concern over the current persecution that Christians were and would be facing. It was not meant to be a firm rule, but a suggestion if one could live by that suggestion. Getting married was never wrong, it was ordained by God from the beginning (Genesis 2:24). But sometimes it can be better to delay marriage if such will cause hardships. However, it isn’t advisable to delay marriage if it causes the couple to be tempted to sin. “But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am; but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion<\/em>” (I Corinthians 7:8-9). A delay is not worth losing your soul over because of sin.<\/p>\n If you have a strong sexual desire, then be looking for a wife. Don’t think you are being more religious or more holy because you are trying to abstain. “Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations — “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using — according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh<\/em>” (Colossians 2:20-23). Giving in to fornication because you increased your temptation is not the way to be more holy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Does having a strong and persistent sexual desire an indication that one is more suited for marriage? Is this a sign from the Holy Spirit that it is time for marriage? What does Paul mean by some people are gifted for singlehood? Does this mean they have fewer needs, including sexual and emotional? Can…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[64,185],"class_list":["post-29805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-marriage","tag-temptation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33644,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-for-a-woman-to-lust-for-her-husband\/","url_meta":{"origin":29805,"position":0},"title":"Is it wrong for a woman to lust for her husband?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a sincere question concerning lust. Is it a sin to\u00a0have a strong sexual desire\u00a0for your husband? Adding to that, is it a sin to desire 'rape fantasies' with your husband? I used to have rape fantasies before I married, and now that I'm married, I've often had\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41488,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-wife-is-leaving-me-after-only-seven-months-of-marriage-where-does-this-leave-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":29805,"position":1},"title":"My wife is leaving me after only seven months of marriage. Where does this leave me?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am 19 years old and recently married my high school sweetheart.\u00a0 Now seven months later she wants a divorce, and it's not for adultery. Should I refuse to sign for the divorce?\u00a0 And if she continues with the divorce, without my agreement, and later remarries someone else, where\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9046,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-man-lust-after-his-own-wife\/","url_meta":{"origin":29805,"position":2},"title":"Can a man lust after his own wife?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 19, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can a man lust after his own wife? Answer: The word for lust, both in English and in Greek, means a strong desire. Generally, it is used in a negative sense, in that we speak of someone having a strong desire for something that is wrong. But it can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1446,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-rape-when-a-husband-is-influenced-by-alcohol-drugs-or-pornography\/","url_meta":{"origin":29805,"position":3},"title":"Is it rape when a husband is influenced by alcohol, drugs, or pornography?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 25, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I strongly disagree with you about a husband raping a wife. If the husband is not a Christian and is under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or pornography, what he is doing is not respectful to his wife and not considered in agreement with Scripture that refers to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36592,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/could-you-explain-more-about-fornication-lust-and-desire\/","url_meta":{"origin":29805,"position":4},"title":"Could you explain more about fornication, lust, and desire?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: To start off, I just want to say I am not trying to be\u00a0antagonistic\u00a0to your response in \"My boyfriend and I keep falling into sexual sin. What should we do?\" but rather trying to fully reconcile what people say the Bible says to the lives we actually live --\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26623,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/abstinence-is-reasonable\/","url_meta":{"origin":29805,"position":5},"title":"Abstinence Is Reasonable","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 31, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Diestelkamp via\u00a0Think on These Things \"For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication\" (I Thessalonians 4:3). Society is totally confused. It wants people to be reasonable (thinking, logically) about sex. It wants them to think about civil law, time and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29805\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}