Inspire: 1 Corinthians through 2 Thessalonians - Flipbook - Page 15
|
fulfill her husband’s needs. 4 The wife gives authority over her body to her
husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife.
5 Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to re
frain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more
completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan
won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a
concession, not as a command. 7 But I wish everyone were single, just as I am.
Yet each person has
a special gift from God,
of one kind or another.
8 So I say to those who aren’t married and to widows—it’s better to stay
unmarried, just as I am. 9 But if they can’t control themselves, they should go
ahead and marry. It’s better to marry than to burn with lust.
10 But for those who are married, I have a command that comes not from
me, but from the Lord. A wife must not leave her husband. 11 But if she does
leave him, let her remain single or else be reconciled to him. And the husband
must not leave his wife.
12 Now, I will speak to the rest of you, though I do not have a direct command
from the Lord. If a fellow believer has a wife who is not a believer and she is
willing to continue living with him, he must not leave her. 13 And if a believing
woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to continue liv
ing with her, she must not leave him. 14 For the believing wife brings holiness
to her marriage, and the believing husband brings holiness to his marriage.
Otherwise, your children would not be holy, but now they are holy. 15 (But if
the husband or wife who isn’t a believer insists on leaving, let them go. In such
cases the believing husband or wife is no longer bound to the other, for God
has called you to live in peace.)
Don’t you wives realize
16
that your husbands
might be saved
because of you?
And don’t you husbands realize that your wives might be saved because of you?
17 Each of you should continue to live in whatever situation the Lord has
placed you, and remain as you were when God first called you. This is my rule
for all the churches. 18 For instance, a man who was circumcised before he
became a believer should not try to reverse it. And the man who was uncir
cumcised when he became a believer should not be circumcised now. 19 For it
makes no difference whether or not a man has been circumcised.
The important thing is to
keep God’s commandments.
THE
IMPORTANT
thing
IS TO
keep
God’s
COMMANDMENTS.
1 Corinthians 7:19
15
