Page 7 - Family Life Student Textbook

Though our selfish tendency is often to want to be independent from one another,
God’s word says we are dependent upon our mate. Generally, it is not good for a
person to live alone. For instance, studies show that men do not take care of
themselves when they are alone as well as when they are married. They don’t dress as
well; they don’t eat as well. Having a wife is usually good for a husband.

Now let us talk a bit about being single. There are many people in this world who will
never get married. Some will lose their mate and continue to live as a single. In a sinful
world, much of life is less than the ideal. When a person finds himself in a single state,
as the apostle Paul did, they will need to learn to be content as a single. God is uniquely
able to meet all their needs. God will provide them with sweet fellowship with other
people and he will be there to comfort them, provide for them, and be that close friend
to them.

However, God’s general design is that he created a man to have a wife and a wife to have a husband.
Marriage mirrors God’s image and fulfills a divinely created need within mankind. God placed in man a
normal desire to be married. Therefore, I encourage all singles to be patient while waiting for God’s proper
timing. I would encourage them to pray asking God to lead and direct them. And if it is God’s plan for them
is to be single, he will not only bless them in their singleness, but he will also provide for them and use them
in the wonderful design he has planned for their life. Singles should not feel that they are any less special to
God. They are extremely valuable to God and he has a unique and special job for them to do.

But while he was alone, Adam did not adequately reflect God’s image. Together, Adam and Eve more
adequately reflect God’s image and fulfill God’s general plan for humanity.

3. To multiply a godly heritage:

God designed marriage to be the most basic unit of society.
And that design includes reproduction and nurture of children.

Genesis 1:28a “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be
fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and
subdue it.’”

God created mankind to worship him, to fill the earth, and to
manage it. His design includes the continuation of the human
race through reproduction. And God commanded parents to
train their children and nurture them to know God and to
worship him.

If marriages decline, society cannot help but decline. Because
marriage is the most basic unit of society, trouble in the relationship of marriage will bring trouble into the
family, which will result in troubled children. These troubled children will, in turn, produce more troubled
marriages.

But God’s design is for godly parents to train up the next generation to obey and serve Him. When mankind
became too evil in the time before the flood, God saved Noah and his family on the ark from the destruction
of the rest of mankind. Then Noah and his family begin a new and more godly line. Later, God chose
Abraham and made a covenant with him and his descendants. He instructed Abraham to train future
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