/christian/ - Christian Discussion and Fellowship

>Not KJV

Let me fix that for you

32 But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord:

33 But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife.

34 There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.

35 And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.

>>681492

I'm a KJV only kind of guy. I just looked up the verse on the fly because this issue has been troubling me. Thanks for the fix

>>681489

Answer this honestly: do you have the spiritual strength to give up all worldly possessions, and spend most of your time either in isolation or with other monks, contemplating God, and doing manual labor and scripture studies 24/7, and have no sex, for the rest of your life?

If you're answer is yes, then you are meant for monasticism and thus celibacy.

If, however, you truthfully answer no, and you know, deep down that you would burn with sexual passion, then you should aim to get married.

While being unmarried is indeed ideal, even the Bible says that not everyone is cut out for it. Better to marry than to burn with passion. Better to align yourself to God's plan for you than to try to go outside of it for reasons of pride and fall flat on your face.

Remember: marriage and monasticism are both equally valid paths to salvation and are fraught with their own trials and tribulations.

>>681563

The answer is an easy no. So then as someone who is married what is the best way to serve God?

>>681569

Consider the welfare of your wife and children your 2nd biggest priority behind God. Use your possessions to help them and the poor and needy and those within your Christian community. Basically use your time and possessions for the welfare and edification of your family, community and those in need.

>>681573

Also, as my own spiritual Father told me: consider nothing you "own" your own, but from God, and behave accordingly.

>>681573

>>681574

Thank you so much for your responses, they're really helpful.

Not to make this a personal blogpost but 2 areas I think I'm not doing enough in are scripture memorization and I think I should start fasting. Do you guys or anyone else here have good resources on pursuing these things

>>681578

Unfortunately these are two areas I struggle with myself. I read my Bible either everyday or barring that, as often as I can, but when it comes to recalling exact books and chapters and verses, with few exceptions I find myself constantly going "I remember this part of the Bible where it is said…" or having to just remember bits and pieces of a verse and typing it into Bing/Google and pulling it up on biblegateway.com or whatnot. If someone has resources on improving in this particular area, I could use the help too!

As for fasting, I'm a work in progress at best. I've gotten to the point that I can go through most of an extended fasting period without meat/eggs/dairy/oil or fish on certain days/etc. but I still struggle with limiting my intake: sometimes I can go an entire day eating only a banana; other days I end up eating four meals. So this is an area I'm growing in too. Perhaps someone here who is more proficient and accomplished in this area can give you better advice.

All I can offer from my experience is what I've heard from some others: start out slow. I started out with eating fauxmeats (i.e. plant proteins desperately trying to mimic meat products and barely passing) and basically ignoring oil days or trying to limit my intake, before I progressed to where I am now.

Also, check out the books of some of the Fathers of the Church. This was recommended to me on the fasting front:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ladder_of_Divine_Ascent

and is considered good reading for even laity, despite being designed for monastics.

Also, I was recommended this book for recipes and practices in general:

https://www.amazon.com/Fasting-Family-Planning-Preparing-Delicious/dp/1936270528/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1532898047&sr=8-1&keywords=fasting+as+a+family

Hope this helps.

>>681588

Thank you very much - this is absolutely helpful

>>681492

Thanksth.