1Corinthians:7

---

Seeker Overlay ON

* You wrote me a letter . Here is my answer to the things in the letter . It is good if a man has nothing to do with a woman . * But wrong sex is always a danger to us . So it is better for each man to have his own wife and each woman to have her own husband . * The husband should give his wife what is right . So also , the wife should give her husband what is right . * The wife does not have full right over her own body . But her husband has a right to it . In the same way , the husband does not have full right over his own body . But his wife has a right to it . * Do not keep from the other what is right for them to have . It is all right to stay from each other for a while , if you both agree to it . Then you will have time for prayer . Afterwards , come together again . If you do not , Satan might tempt you to do wrong . * I say you may do this . I do not say that you must do it . * I wish that all men were like I am . But God has made everyone different . One man can live one way and another man can live another way . * Here is what I say to those who are not married and to those whose husbands are dead . It is good for them to stay the way I am . * But if they cannot keep themselves under control , then they should marry . It is better to marry than to burn with desire for sex . * And here is what I say to those who are married . (And yet it is not what I say . It is what the Lord has said .) The wife may not leave her husband . * But if she does leave him , she must not marry again , or she must come back to her husband again . And the husband may not send away his wife . * Here is what I say to other people . (This is my word , not the Lords .) Perhaps a Christian brother has a wife who is not a Christian . If she wants to stay with him , then he should not send her away . * Perhaps a woman has a husband who is not a Christian . If he wants to stay with her , then the woman should not leave him . * The husband who is not a Christian is made holy by the wife . And the wife who is not a Christian is made holy by the husband . If this were not so , then your children would not be holy . But they are holy . * If the one who is not a Christian really wants to leave , let him go . The Christian husband or wife is free then . God has called us to live in peace . * Wife , you do not know . Perhaps you will win your husband to the Lord . Husband , you do not know . Perhaps you will win your wife to the Lord . * Only let me say this . Every man should go on living in the way which the Lord chooses for him . He should go on as he was when God called him to be a Christian . I say this to people in all the churches . * If a man was already circumcised when God called him , he should not try to change the marks of it . If a man was not circumcised when God called him , he should not be circumcised . * It does not matter whether one is circumcised or not . The thing that matters is doing what God says we must do . * Everyone should stay the way he was when God called him . * If you were a slave when God called you , do not let that trouble you . But if there is some way for you to get free , then do so . * If a man was a slave when the Lord called him , he is the Lords free man . So also if a man was free when he was called , he is Christs slave . * You were bought and paid for . Do not become slaves of men ! * So , Christian brothers , everyone should go on living as he was when God called him . But now he lives with God . * Here is what I say about those who are not married . (I have no law from the Lord about this . But here is what I think . You can trust me because the Lord has helped me .) * I think that , since there is now trouble in the world , it is good for each one to stay as he is . * If you have married a wife , do not try to be free from her . If you have no wife , do not look for one . * But , if you marry , it is not wrong . And if a woman marries , it is not wrong . People who marry will have trouble in this life . And I want to keep you out of it . * Here , my brothers , is what I mean . The time is short . In the time that is left , men who have wives should live as though they did not . * People who cry should live as though they were not sad . People who laugh should live as though they were not glad . People who buy things should live as though they did not own them . * And people who are busy with things in this world should not be too busy . The world as we see it is passing away . * I want your minds to be free . The man who is not married thinks about the things of the Lord . He tries to please the Lord . * But the man who is married thinks about the things of this world . He tries to please his wife . * In the same way , there is a difference between the woman who is married and the one who is not . The woman who is not married thinks about the things of the Lord . She wants her body and her spirit to be holy . But the married woman thinks about the things of this life . She tries to please her husband . * I say this to help you , not to make it hard for you . I want to show you what is good . I do not want anything to stop you from serving the Lord . * And if a man feels that he is doing the right thing for the woman he is to marry , then let him marry her . That is , if she is no longer young , and if he wants her very much . Then he must do as he thinks best . It is not wrong for him to do it . * But the man who has made up his mind not to marry his woman will do well . That is , if he does not have to marry her , and is able to control himself , and if he is sure about it in his own mind . * So the man who marries his woman will do what is good . But the man who does not marry her will do better . * A wife may not leave her husband as long as he is living . But if he dies , she is free to marry any man she wants . Only this , he must be a Christian . * But I think that she is happier if she stays as she is and does not marry again . (I think too that I am saying what the Spirit of God wants me to say in this matter .)

---