Singles

The Gift of Singleness
by Shellie R. Warren

"Then said the Lord to me (Hosea), Go again, love [the same] woman [Gomer] who is beloved of a paramour and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins [used in the sacrificial feasts in idol worship]." --Hosea 3:1

Get over yourselves, singles! You've been fornicating for as long as you can remember, but every week you are laid out before the altar begging God to overlook your transgressions and bless you with one of His most precious gifts---a virgin! And many times, not for the right reasons.

Am I saying that God cannot deliver that to you? Of course not! God can do anything! But keep in my that because God can and will do whatever He wants to do, whenever He wants to do it---your plans and His may not always coincide.

Many of us long to have a life-long companion. Someone who will love and support us unconditionally. That being the case, why would you limit God's endless possibilities? 

Sure, God wants you to be happy and fulfilled mentally, emotionally and physically. But His greater concern is that you would be fulfilled and fulfill others spiritually

Hosea and Gomer

One of the greatest love stories of all time is that of Hosea and Gomer.

Gomer, a harlot--a prostitute. Hosea, her husband. According to the Ten Commandments, adultery makes divorce spiritually legal. But here was Gomer, not just sleeping with one man, but many men. Yet God instructed Hosea to buy back his wife from the very men that were causing his marriage bed to be defiled. Why do you think that God would do such a thing?

Well for one to illustrate to us that He does not love one more than the other. God wanted Gomer's soul saved just as much as Hosea's and Hosea was just the man to do it. But more importantly, to illustrate to us, just how much He loves us. We all have committed spiritual adultery numerous times. Anytime we make something other than God a top priority, we are cheating on Him. He, the Man who unconditionally loves us, who sent His only Son to die for our sins, who picks us up out of our sin only to watch us continually fall back in, must buy us back from the many things the separates us and breaks our spiritual covenant with Him.

In the story of Hosea and Gomer, God shows us just how great the covenant of love is. Love will not always feel good. Love will sometimes cause you to endure hard times. Love can come in the oddest places and at the strangest of times. But when true love comes, when God is in it, it is the most beautiful thing ever. Because Godly loves redefines what the world would want us to think love is and one of the greatest examples of Godly love is the marriage covenant.

So next time you are laid out on the altar, first ask God to create in you a clean heart---to make you the kind of mate that you would want to have (and that includes sexual purity, regardless of your past, for when you repent, you are a new creature in Christ). Then ask Him to show you what love truly is. And finally, commit to not confining the One who loves you, knows the beginning from the end and looks out for your ultimate better good. God always knows what's best and what's best is to unite yourself.

Shellie R. Warren is a writer, poet and entrepreneur in her own right. Check out Shellie's debut book Inside of Me: Lessons of Lust, Love and Redemption or visit her Web site.