Our Brothers in Christ

Ok, so we know we shouldn't be "boy crazy" and we know why, but how should we treat believing young men? "...to the younger men as brothers, the older women as mothers and the younger women as sisters in all purity." (1 Timothy 5:1). Here, Paul is telling Timothy how he should treat other members of the church. But I think it applies to us girls as well. We are told to treat young men as our brothers in Christ. Besides, if they are treating as sisters in Christ, doesn't it make sense that we treat them as brothers in Christ?

None of this means that you can't get married of course. God designed marriage. He created Eve so that Adam would have a wife! "For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh." (Genesis 2:24). Marriage was designed and created by God, and therefor it's good, but it is NOT our job to chase after every boy you see! Remember that our focus should be on Christ, not anything else. And if our focus is on Christ, we will trust Him. Trust that He has a plan for our lives! "For i know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'Plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope," (Jerimiah 29:11). "Not that I speak fom want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am." (Phillipians 4:11) I think it's pretty safe to say that we can take "whatever circumstances" to include single or married.

The point is, we need to trust God. Being content in any circumstances means trusting God with our lives. If He wants you to remain single, then that's what's best for you! It's really remarkably simple! All we have to do is trust, and God will bring the right guy along at the right time! Unfortunatly, we in human sinfulness, complicate things incredibly by thinking we know better than God, and try to find the guy WE think is right at the time WE want. This is obviously not trusting God, which Christ commands us to do. So, if we keep our focus where it should be, (on Christ) then we will learn and grow in ALL areas, including this one. We will learn to trust God in this area, learn to treat the young men as brothers. This is where the purity part in the 1st Timothy verse comes in, but I'm going to talk about that, and few other, realated things tommorow, because it's getting late. Thanks for listening; I hope this is helpful!