Welcome to 10 minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life.

In the time it takes to get to work.

I'm Patrick Miller.

Right now we're going through the first book of the Bible, Genesis.

Years ago I was talking to a woman in her mid-30s who was single. She wanted to get married for

a lot of her life but it didn't really happen and at this

stage she was kind of expecting to go the rest of life alone and so I was

trying to encourage her I was giving her words from Paul and Jesus about how celibacy can be an actual calling and that God does tremendous kingdom building through celibate people. I mean just look at Paul and Jesus. She smiled at me politely. She knew everything that I was saying and I wasn't doing a very good job of it, but all of a sudden she got brutally honest with me. She said, yeah, I know all that,

and I'm considering whether celibacy might be God's calling on my life.

But can I ask you a question?

Of course, I said.

She responds.

She goes, have you read what Paul and Jesus wrote about treating fellow believers as brothers and sisters?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course I have.

And she continued, well, do you have your sister and family over regularly?

I nodded.

She goes, so what about your single brothers and sisters in Christ?

Do you treat them like siblings?

Do you have them over regularly? I knew I was caught because she was totally right.

We mostly have people in our house who are a lot like us, people who were married, people with kids.

And she continued, she goes,

look, I would be more open to embracing a celibate calling

...