Many singles are desperate to find a partner. However, celibacy is not a sickness or a problem to be dealt with. On the contrary, in the hands of God, it is even an opportunity!

God’s will is that all be saved (1 Timothy 2:4). We were all lost, destined for eternal death, and our way of life was not leading us in the right direction. When Jesus died on the cross, He opened a way to enter the Kingdom of God. It is then our turn to choose to give Him our life: that is, to follow His precepts and walk in His plan.

What we sometimes forget with the demands of everyday life, is that we have given our lives to God. And therefore, it no longer belongs to us! “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19 NKJV). To describe this state of abandonment Paul also compares us to a sacrifice, like the ones the Levites made on the altar. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1 NKJV).

If we have given our life, that also includes our work, ministry, and even our singleness! We must live our lives remembering that it is no longer ours but Christ’s. So we must also live our singleness by remembering that it belongs to God and that He certainly wants to use it for His glory! If Christ were to go to work this morning at your place, how would your work be? How would your relationships be with the other employees? If Christ was in charge of your ministry, what task would you do to advance the Kingdom of God? If Christ was in charge of your singleness, what kind of partner would He introduce to you? If your dating time belongs to Christ, what will you do - and what will you refrain from doing - with your partner?

Let’s go even further! There are all kinds of sacrifices that are pleasing to God in the book of Leviticus. The object sacrificed had to be perfect (and Christ makes us perfect). But to complete the process, the fire also had to consume the sacrifice. Not only do we have to give our life to God as a sacrifice, not only do we have to hand over our singleness to Him to lead it as He wishes, but we also have to expect the fire of the Holy Spirit to come and consume this sacrifice.

Let us ask Him to come and consume whatever is not pleasing to God in our work, our ministry, or our singleness. May everything that was not pleasing to God be replaced by the fire of the Holy Spirit: His passion, His strength, His anointing. It may come to consume our carnal habits or the wounds from our past relationships. Let the Holy Spirit come and sanctify us completely. That is when our life (work, ministry, or singleness) will be pleasing to God. And isn’t that what we all want?