For your encouragement:
Luk 14:16-24 Jesus said to him, "A man gave a large banquet and invited many people. When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, 'Come! Everything is now ready.' Every single one of them began asking to be excused.
The first said to him, 'I bought a field, and I need to go out and inspect it. Please excuse me.'
Another said, 'I bought five pairs of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.'
Still another said, 'I recently got married, and that's why I can't come.'
"So the servant went back and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and told his servant, 'Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring back the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.'
The servant said, 'Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.' Then the master told the servant, 'Go out into the streets and the lanes and make the people come in, so that my house may be full. For I tell all of you, none of those men who were invited will taste anything at my banquet.
1Co 6:9-11 You know that wicked people will not inherit the kingdom of God, don't you? Stop deceiving yourselves! Sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, thieves, greedy people, drunks, slanderers, and robbers will not inherit the kingdom of God. That is what some of you were! But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
It doesn't matter if the damages listed in Luke 14 or the sins listed in I Corinthians 6 are precisely yours or not. We know here (or ought to) that there is no sin, failing, or affliction that that couldn't be ours if the Lord had directed our steps differently. So your words here are sufficient for anybody with the maturity to offer you any help in the first place.
For exhortation:
1Co 7:7 I would like everyone to be like me. However, each person has a special gift from God, one this and another that.
1Co 7:8 I say to those who are unmarried, especially to widows: It is good for them to remain like me.
1Co 7:9 However, if they cannot control themselves, they should get married, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
1Co 7:10 To married people I give this command (not really I, but the Lord): A wife must not leave her husband.
1Co 7:11 But if she does leave him, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. Likewise, a husband must not abandon his wife.
1Co 7:12 I (not the Lord) say to the rest of you: If a brother has a wife who is an unbeliever and she is willing to live with him, he must not abandon her.
1Co 7:13 And if a woman has a husband who is an unbeliever and he is willing to live with her, she must not abandon him.
1Co 7:14 For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified because of her husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.
1Co 7:15 But if the unbelieving partner leaves, let him go. In such cases the brother or sister is not bound; God has called you to live in peace.
1Co 7:16 Wife, how do you know whether you will save your husband? Husband, how do you know whether you will save your wife?
1Co 7:17 Nevertheless, everyone should live the life that the Lord gave him and to which God called him. This is my rule in all the churches.
1Co 7:18 Was anyone circumcised when he was called? He should not try to change that. Was anyone uncircumcised when he was called? He should not get circumcised.
1Co 7:19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but obeying God's commandments is everything.
1Co 7:20 Everyone should stay in the calling in which he was called.
1Co 7:21 Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let that bother you. Of course, if you have a chance to become free, take advantage of the opportunity.
1Co 7:22 For the slave who has been called in the Lord is the Lord's free person. In the same way, the free person who has been called is Christ's slave.
1Co 7:23 You were bought for a price. Stop becoming slaves of people.
1Co 7:24 Brothers, everyone should stay in the calling he was in when called by God.
Stay in the state you are: Unmarried and being dealt with by the Spirit of God. The woman you are seeing is not a fantasy, but a real person. You shouldn't fantasize about a relationship with her that doesn't match her own thoughts. As the Lord leads, if a closer relationship seems to be occuring, you're going to have to be honest with her about areas of your brokenness. Until then, Stay in the calling you are. Don't be a slave of a fantasy. You were bought with a price. You are the responsibility of the Lord God. And that means, among other things, that you shouldn't burden her with the full force of your need for the foreseeable future.
Let the Lord heal you to a greater extent and:
Rom 12:1,2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
In the meantime, pray and learn to love as a righteous, single man...neither hermit nor monk.
Praying for you.
Author
Topic: seeking (Read 8433 times)