Singleness At Its Best
Singleness At Its Best
The most notable single I have known throughout the new testament is also the greatest person Christianity produced, he is no other than the beloved Apostle Paul.
Apostle Paul narrated his Christian conversion to king Agrippa in Acts 26. Paul was given a thorough Jewish training from his earliest childhood among his own people in Jerusalem. He had been a member of the Pharisees, the strictest sect of their religion. He was once a cruel persecutor of the Christians. He did everything to oppose the followers of Jesus Christ. Authorized by the leading priests , he caused many of the believers to be sent to prison. Many times he had them whipped in the synagogues to try to get them to curse Christ. He even hounded them in the distant cities of foreign lands.
One day, while on such a mission to Damascus, about noon, a light from heaven brighter than the sun shone down on Paul and his companions. They all fell face down, and Paul heard a voice saying to him in Aramaic, “Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me ? It is hard for you to fight against my will.” And Paul asked “who are you Sir ?” And the Lord replied “ I am Jesus the one you are persecuting. Now stand up ! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and my witness. You are to tell the world about this experience and about other times I will appear to you And I will protect you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes I am going to send you to the Gentiles to open their eyes so they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God.” Acts 26 : 16 – 18.
And Paul became obedient to this heavenly vision till is death. He is believed to live a celibate life and instructing Christian men and women on singleness. Quoting Paul on I Corinthians 7 : 7 : “I wish everyone could get along without marrying just as I do . But we are not all the same. God gives some the gift of marriage , and to others the gift of singleness.”
Paul was able to maximize his singleness for God’s purposes and missions. Paul was able to lead at least three missionary journeys in is lifetime. He was able to plant scores of churches in not less than ten cities in Asia Minor. He had written at least 14 books of the New Testament. The Christianization of the entire Gentile world was attributed to Paul.
I may say the great Apostle Paul is one single person who was able to excellently use the gift of singleness.
