Yesterday was my wedding anniversary. It is hard to believe God has blessed me with Kathy for 14 years. Our marriage has been so blessed by God. I do not deserve my wife, and I don’t deserve our children.

I know that she, as well as they, belong to God, and I try to hold all of them with an open hand. Kathy is my greatest confidant, counselor, and friend. I try hard not to take her for granted, but I know I fail to do that too often.

Even though we are married today, I know that one day in eternity we will simply be brother and sister. I am not sure I understand all that, but one thing I know: I want to be faithful to God as I try to unselfishly love her and our children while I live this short life here on earth. I am thankful for both her grace and God’s grace as I make a flawed attempt at leading my family in Christ.

First Corinthians seven addresses a subject that unfortunately is not very common in the church: the benefits of being unmarried. The Apostle Paul made some pretty radical statements regarding his encouragement for people to remain single as he was.

Often society, and even the church at times, makes the importance of family almost a god. Family, as we know it today (parents, spouses, children, etc.) are unique relationships that are tied to this earthly life only (Luke 20:27-36). We will retain these relationships on the New Earth, but they will not be based on spouses, parents, children, etc.

People are encouraged in Scripture to remain single so that they are not distracted by the needs of a spouse or family, and can therefore, have a more undivided focus on Christ (I Cor. 7:25-40). How often do we hear this message in the church?

Even Jesus made some radical statements that did not seem too family-friendly (Matt. 10:34-39, Matt. 12:46-49, Luke 14:25-27). In fact, most of these passages are down right disturbing.

I absolutely love my family with all my heart, but I need to make sure that my love for family never overtakes my love for God. How do we flesh this out? I think we need to wrestle with this question whether we are single or married. I am not sure the answers are as simple as they might first appear.