Better single?

When picking a guy to be a potential boyfriend, it's easy to simply compare him to the other guys you've met. "Is he better than the rest?" "Is he the best I can find?"

Here's another question to ask: "Would I be better off single?"

If the answer is no, great. If the answer is yes--there is such a thing as being happy and better off single.

From 1 Corinthians 7, NIV:

⁸Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. ⁹But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

Never settle

We all have that list of standards for our future husband....

But sometimes, you have to wonder: Since we ourselves aren't perfect, should we compromise our standards a little?

Answer? Never.

Instead, try to make yourself fit your standards. For example, I want to marry a guy who reads his Bible every morning. That means that I need to make an effort to read mine every morning. I want to marry a guy who only listens to very clean music--mostly Christian. I need to pattern my own music preferences this way, as well.

Don't settle for less than the best in a guy. And never settle for less than the best in yourself.

From 1 Corinthians 9, NIV:

 ²⁴Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
 ²⁵Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. ²⁷No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Love is blind

 I was recently thinking about the expression "Love is blind." Perhaps you've heard it. It basically means that, when you love someone, it's hard for you to see their faults. I usually think of this as something bad, like when someone doesn't break up with a bad boyfriend because they're "in love."

But it occurred to me... God is love. Is God blind?

My first thought is "absolutely not." God sees everything. In fact, He's the creator of sight!

Nevertheless, there's another side to God's character: His willingness to accept Jesus in our place, covering over our faults.

He doesn't see our faults anymore.

Not exactly blind, but close enough...

Now that's cool :)

Newsboys "He Reigns" lyrics

It’s the song of the redeemed
Rising from the African plain
It’s the song of the forgiven
Drowning out the Amazon rain
The song of Asian believers
Filled with God’s holy fire
It’s every tribe, every tongue, every nation
A love song born of a grateful choir
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
Let it rise about the four winds
Caught up in the heavenly sound
Let praises echo from the towers of cathedrals
To the faithful gathered underground
Of all the songs sung from the dawn of creation
Some were meant to persist
Of all the bells rung from a thousand steeples
None rings truer than this
And all the powers of darkness
Tremble at what they’ve just heard
‘Cause all the powers of darkness
Can’t drown out a single word
When all God’s children sing out
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
All God’s people singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns