A Good Christian Single

The single life can be a bit discouraging for single Christians at times. However, life for singles can remain positive if they:

• Live each day for God;
• Seek always to know more about God;
• Seize opportunities to help others;
• Go places, rather than sit at home, waiting to be discovered;
• Spend personal time on self-improvement; and
• Bravely establish a faith in God that affirms their ability to make it in life, just as they are.

Being single and Christian is not an easy path for a number of reasons. We know that living truly as a Christian in today's world is very difficult at best. The "do what you want" way of living is the order of the day. Life as a practicing Christian requires determination and hard work if one is to live the faith. Also, being a Christian is choosing to be different from the rest of society. This is because we live in a time when the wrong is often promoted as the right, and the right is ridiculed and considered to be unpopular.
Additional difficulties arise just from the nature of being single in our society. This is because the single status has inherent challenges such as vulnerability, weakened support systems, and few sources of consistent positive affirmation. But there is hope.
To feel confident and happy as a single Christian, remember this:

• Focus on the goodness of God and be thankful. Focus on the things you do have rather than the things you don't.
• Don't get obsessed with singleness in your prayer life. Don't get to the point when all you pray about is getting a partner. If this happens you get consumed and start to neglect praying for the lost, missions, your church, friends and family. If all you are doing is praying for "him" or "her" then you will become miserable. Re-focus yourself and you will become happy. You can't blackmail God by saying "I won't pray for anything else until I get this". It just doesn't work.
• Keep busy doing good, so misery hasn't got a chance to get in. Times of idleness can be the worst times to be single. Take up exercise. Get involved at church. Join a voluntary Christian organization.
• Love your church. It's easy to get disappointed with the local church when we are single. Our emotional needs can be very deep and "the church" may not seem to care. Persist - a few true friends will eventually emerge.
• Prize the friendships you do have and work on them. They can be richly rewarding. Don't make the mistake of neglecting all friendships while you search for "the one".