Well, to brooch the topic of singleness is to enter a hot debate. I know that. And,

you know, on the one side comes the argument that prolonged adult singleness today is only,

it's only selfish. It's only there to self-protect personal freedoms, to guard career advancement,

and to create a life of ease. You know, anything short of marriage is just brokenness.

This debate isn't going away because at least here in the United States, the number of

unmarried women is now about equal to the

number of married women. And the share of women who have never married is surging upward.

Behind the trends, we find a web of factors. It's complex, obviously, can't resolve it in one

APJ. But one of them is the question over independence and the single life.

Today, I'm asked Pastor John, the bondage of singleness done wrong.

Amy in Columbus, Ohio is feeling this cultural shift herself when she writes this.

Pastor John is a 32-year-old woman.

I am growing frustrated

over how my church treats us singles like we are broken. Everyone assumes the marriage is God's

ideal, but I've been reading 1st Corinthians 7 where Paul actually wishes that more people were

single like him. Can you explain what he means about singleness providing space for

undivided devotion to the Lord.

I feel like we are missing something important here.

Yeah, good question.

And we happen to be in 1st Corinthians 7 right now in our reading.

And if you are reading the Bible for the first time with us, this might be a total surprise to you as we read this section.

To read Paul say that marriage is bondage. So how do we decipher this chapter? Here's how Pastor John walked through

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