Devotional 18 November 2025
Paul approaches this passage with pastoral honesty. He tells the Corinthians that he has “no command from the Lord,” but speaks as one who is trustworthy and wise (1 Cor 7:25). His words are not a new divine law; they are Spirit-guided counsel for a church facing real, immediate pressures. Paul is writing “in time,” into a world marked by famine, instability, persecution, and missionary urgency. Some things that were future to him are now past to us, but his pastoral logic remains clear: in seasons of distress, the church must prioritize spiritual fruitfulness above building ideal earthly circumstances.
Paul urges them to remain as they are (vv. 26–27), not because marriage or family life is burdensome or sinful, but because major life changes demand energy, attention, and emotional bandwidth. “Those who marry will have worldly troubles,” he says (v. 28). Paul is not condemning marriage; he is warning that in a moment of crisis, good responsibilities can become overwhelming ones, distracting believers from the work God has placed before them.
His reasoning is rooted in the reality that “the appointed time has grown very short” and “the present form of this world is passing away” (vv. 29, 31). Because of this, Paul calls Christians to hold even the best gifts of life loosely. marriage, sorrow, joy, possessions, opportunities, not with cold detachment but with eternal perspective. When times are unstable, the people of God must remain steady, focused, and unburdened by anxieties that divide the heart (v. 35).
This also challenges a worldly assumption that spiritual legacy is preserved through biological reproduction. Paul sees the church not as a biological family but as a born-again one. As John writes, God’s children are those who are born “not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12–13). The gospel does not advance through genetics: it advances through proclamation, faith, and resurrection power (Rom 9:8; Eph 2:1–5).
Paul’s message is not to avoid marriage, but to avoid anxious living. His desire is that believers, whether single or married, live with undivided devotion to the Lord (v. 35). In every season, but especially in times of pressure, the call remains the same: trust God with your circumstances, hold this world lightly, and give Christ your whole heart.