Living Single
By David T. Simmons
Genesis 2:18-20 states: "And the Lord God said, "It is not good
that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to
him," Out of the ground, the Lord God formed every beast of the
field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see
what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living
creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to the cattle,
to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But
for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to Him.
In
looking at human behavior in general with regards to
establishing relationships with the opposite sex, one thing in
particular stands out; most people feel incomplete if they are
not attached to a "significant other". The world, in many ways,
tell us that it is an oddity to be single. Pressures come from
our peers and from our families as well. It is not uncommon for
a single person to be labeled gay, lesbian, or just plain
strange because of not being in a romantic relationship with a
guy or girl. But it can get even more complicated than that.
People not feeling any sense of self-worth and attempt to live
off that persons worth. It's much like the girl who feels ugly
and unpopular dating the most popular guy in school. Suddenly,
she feels important.
That's on the mild side. I believe that men
and women who stalk and eventually kill celebrities are people
who fit the profile of people who see themselves to the
"somebody". Even songs invade our ear gates with titles such as
"There's no me, without you," "I'll never breathe again,"
"You're gonna love me," etc.
But what does the Lord say about
this? In the above chapter and verse, God says of Adam that it
was not good to be alone. He did not say that Adam was lonely.
From the moment of his creation he had an ongoing fellowship
with his creator. There is not one hint of a sign from Adam,
verbally or otherwise, that he was unhappy or unfulfilled. He
was single, yet he was satisfied. It was God who made the
statement about being alone. Being alone is not to be confused
with loneliness. You can be around friends and family, yet
experience loneliness.
So what was God saying? If you look at
what God does, you will see what He was saying. God brings all
the beasts and birds to Adam so that Adam could name them. As He
begins to name them he becomes aware of the fact that for every
male creature there was a female counterpart. Adam was so
complete in himself that God had to make him aware that he did
not have a counterpart, another human being like himself to
commune with. It seems to me that once God was able to first get
Adam to know, become intimate with and to derive his sense of
worth and significance from Him, then he could interact properly
with other human beings. Of course this is also important when
you look at the bigger picture of establishing a home and
rearing children.
When you come into a personal relationship
with God through His Son, Jesus Christ, you are born again and
made complete. Colossians 2:10 says: "And you are complete in
Him, who is the head of all principality and power." That means
single, whole, never needing another guy or girl to feel
significant. The cure for being alone is fellowship with other
humans. The cure for loneliness is embracing your completeness
in Christ, and establishing an intimate relationship with Him.
Lastly, beware of the 50/50 relationships. Note, two halves only
make One whole; if you attempt to take the other person's fifty,
where does that leave them? God takes two whole people and then
makes the two one. Nuf said, I'm outta here!
David T. Simmons is
the senior pastor of Ambassador Pentecostal Churches In Christ
Intl. and the founder of Living in The Word Ministries, a
dynamic multimedia teaching ministry. You can contact him at
litwm@hotmail.com.
