Memory Text: (1 Cor 7:7 KJV) For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.

"Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION.
Copyright © 1973,1978 & 1984 by the International Bible Society: Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House."

Sabbath Afternoon

Read 1 Corinthians chapter 7

Sunday

(1 Cor 7:1-7 NIV) Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry. {2} But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. {3} The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. {4} The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. {5} Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. {6} I say this as a concession, not as a command. {7} I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

(1 Cor 7:15 NRSV) But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so; in such a case the brother or sister is not bound. It is to peace that God has called you.

(1 Cor 7:15 NIV) But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace.

(1 Cor 7:15 NKJV) But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace.

(1 Cor 7:1 NRSV) Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: "It is well for a man not to touch a woman."

(1 Cor 7:1 NIV) Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry.

(1 Cor 7:1 NKJV) Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.

(1 Cor 7:2-7 NIV) But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. {3} The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. {4} The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. {5} Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. (6) I say this as a concession, not as a command. {7} I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

(1 Cor 7:1 NRSV) Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: "It is well for a man not to touch a woman."

(1 Cor 7:36-38 NIV) If anyone thinks he is acting improperly toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if she is getting along in years and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning. They should get married. {37} But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin--this man also does the right thing. {38} So then, he who marries the virgin does right, but he who does not marry her does even better.

The Adventist Home, p. 338

Moral Standards - When a woman relates her family troubles or complains of her husband to another man, she violates her marriage vows; she dishonors her husband and breaks down the wall erected to preserve the sanctity of the marriage relation; she throws wide open the door and invites Satan to enter with his insidious temptations. This is just as Satan would have it. If a woman comes to a Christian brother with a tale of her woes, her disappointments and trials, he should ever advise her, if she must confide her troubles to someone, to select sisters for her confidants, and then there will be no appearance of evil whereby the cause of God may suffer reproach. How to Be Kept From Straying. --I speak to our people. If your draw close to Jesus and seek to adorn your profession by a well-ordered life and godly conversation, your feet will be kept from straying into forbidden paths. If you will only watch, continually watch unto prayer, if you will do everything as if you were in the immediate presence of God, you will be saved from yielding to temptation and may hope to be kept pure, spotless, and undefiled till the last. If you hold the beginning of your confidence firm unto the end, your ways will be established in God; and what grace has begun, glory will crown in the kingdom of our God. The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, (p. 339) faith, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law. If Christ be within us, we shall crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Monday

(1 Cor 7:8-9 NIV) Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am.

{1 Cor 7:9} But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

(1 Cor 7:25-40 NIV) Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. {26} Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for you to remain as you are. {27} Are you married? Do not seek a divorce. Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife. {28} But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this. {29} What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; {30} those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; {31} those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away. {32} I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs--how he can please the Lord. {33} But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world--how he can please his wife-- {34} and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world--how she can please her husband. {35} I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord. {36} If anyone thinks he is acting improperly toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if she is getting along in years and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning. They should get married. {37} But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin--this man also does the right thing. {38} So then, he who marries the virgin does right, but he who does not marry her does even better. {39} A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. {40} In my judgment, she is happier if she stays as she is--and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

(1 Cor 7:8-9 NIV) Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. {9} But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

(1 Cor 7:39-40 NIV) A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. {40} In my judgment, she is happier if she stays as she is--and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

(1 Cor 7:25-28 NIV) Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. {26} Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for you to remain as you are. {27} Are you married? Do not seek a divorce. Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife. {28} But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.

(Rev 14:4 NIV) These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb.

(1 Cor 7:36-38 NIV) If anyone thinks he is acting improperly toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if she is getting along in years and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning. They should get married.

{1 Cor 7:37-38} But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin--this man also does the right thing. {38} So then, he who marries the virgin does right, but he who does not marry her does even better.

(1 Cor 7:28 NIV) But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.

(1 Cor 7:38 NIV) So then, he who marries the virgin does right, but he who does not marry her does even better.

(1 Cor 7:26 NRSV) I think that, in view of the impending crisis, it is well for you to remain as you are.

(1 Cor 7:26 NIV) Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for you to remain as you are.

(1 Cor 7:34 NIV) and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world--how she can please her husband.

(1 Cor 7:26 NIV) Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for you to remain as you are.

(1 Cor 7:8 NIV) Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am.

(1 Cor 7:25-26 NIV) Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. {26} Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for you to remain as you are.

(1 Cor 7:32-35 NIV) I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs--how he can please the Lord. {33} But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world--how he can please his wife-- {34} and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world--how she can please her husband. {35} I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.

(1 Cor 7:38 NIV) So then, he who marries the virgin does right, but he who does not marry her does even better.

(1 Cor 7:40 NIV) In my judgment, she is happier if she stays as she is--and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

(1 Cor 7:7 NIV) I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

(1 Cor 7:37 NIV) But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin--this man also does the right thing.

Tuesday

(1 Cor 7:10-11 NIV) To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. {11} But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.

(1 Cor 7:12-16 NIV) To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. {13} And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. {14} For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. {15} But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. {16} How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

(Mat 5:31-32 NIV) "It has been said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.' {32} But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.

(Mat 19:1-9 NIV) When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. {2} Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. {3} Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?" {4} "Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' {5} and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? {6} So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." {7} "Why then," they asked, "did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?" {8} Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. {9} I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery."

(Mark 10:1-12 NIV) Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them. {2} Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" {3} "What did Moses command you?" he replied. {4} They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away." {5} "It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law," Jesus replied. {6} "But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.' {7} 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, {8} and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. {9} Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." {10} When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. {11} He answered, "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. {12} And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery."

(1 Cor 6:16 NIV) Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh."

(Mat 5:31-32 NIV) "It has been said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.' {32} But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.

(1 Cor 7:14 NIV) For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

Wednesday

(1 Cor 7:17-24 NIV) Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches. {18} Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised. {19} Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God's commands is what counts. {20} Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him. {21} Were you a slave when you were called? Don't let it trouble you--although if you can gain your freedom, do so. {22} For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord's freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ's slave. {23} You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. {24} Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to.

(1 Cor 7:19 NRSV) Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing; but obeying the commandments of God is everything.

(1 Cor 7:19 NIV) Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God's commands is what counts.

(1 Cor 7:29-31 NIV) What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; {30} those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; {31} those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

(Heb 11:13-16 NIV) All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. {14} People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. {15} If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. {16} Instead, they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Mind, Character, and Personality, vol. 1, p. 221

Love and Sexuality in the Human Experience The Privilege of the Marriage Relation. They [Christians who have married] should duly consider the result of every privilege of the marriage relation, and sanctified principle should be the basis of every action.--2T 380 (1870). [She wrote of] "the fortifications preserving sacred the privacy and privileges of the family relation."--2T 90 (1868).

Mind, Character, and Personality, vol. 1, p.221 (Continued)

A Time When Affections May Be Unfettered --The young affections should be restrained until the period arrives when sufficient age and experience will make it honorable and safe to unfetter them. The Danger of Carrying the Lawful to Excess.--There is in itself no sin in eating and drinking or in marrying and giving in marriage. It was lawful to marry in the time of Noah, and it is lawful to marry now, if that which is lawful is properly treated and not carried to sinful excess.... In Noah's day it was the inordinate, excessive love of that which in itself was lawful, when properly used, that made marriage sinful before God. There are many who are losing their souls in this age of the world by becoming absorbed in the thoughts of marriage and in the marriage relation itself.... God has placed men in the world, and it is their privilege to eat, to drink, to trade, to marry, and to be given in marriage; but it is safe to do these things only in the fear of God. We should live in this world with reference to the eternal world.--RH, Sept 25, 1888. Marriage No License for Giving Loose Rein to Lustful Passions --Very few feel it to be a religious duty to govern their passions. They have united themselves in marriage to the object of their choice and therefore reason that marriage sanctifies the indulgence of the baser passions. Even men and women professing godliness give loose rein to their lustful passions and have no thought that God holds them accountable for the expenditure of vital energy, which weakens their hold on life and enervates the entire system.

(Mat 24:38 NIV) For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;

(1 Cor 7:7 NIV) I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

(1 Cor 7:17 NIV) Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.

(1 Cor 7:37 NIV) But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin--this man also does the right thing.

(1 Cor 7:39 NRSV) A wife is bound as long as her husband lives. But if the husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, only in the Lord.

(1 Cor 7:39 NIV) A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord.

(1 Cor 7:25-31 NIV) Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. {26} Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for you to remain as you are. {27} Are you married? Do not seek a divorce. Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife. {28} But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this. {29} What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; {30} those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; {31} those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

(1 Cor 7:4 NIV) The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife.

(1 Cor 7:10-14 NIV) To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. {11} But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife. {12} To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. {13} And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. {14} For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

(Mark 10:2-9 NIV) Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" {3} "What did Moses command you?" he replied. {4} They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away." {5} "It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law," Jesus replied. {6} "But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.' {7} 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, {8} and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. {9} Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."

(1 Cor 7:29 NIV) What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none;

(1 Cor 7:32-35 NIV) I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs--how he can please the Lord. {33} But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world--how he can please his wife-- {34} and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world--how she can please her husband. {35} I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.

Thursday

(Eph 5:21-33 NIV) Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. {22} Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. {23} For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. {24} Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. {25} Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her {26} to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, {27} and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. {28} In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. {29} After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church-- {30} for we are members of his body. {31} "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." {32} This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church. {33} However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

(Prov 5:15-23 NIV) Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. {16} Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? {17} Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. {18} May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. {19} A loving doe, a graceful deer-- may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love. {20} Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another man's wife? {21} For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths. {22} The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast. {23} He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.

(Prov 6:20-35 NIV) My son, keep your father's commands and do not forsake your mother's teaching. {21} Bind them upon your heart forever; fasten them around your neck. {22} When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you. {23} For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life, {24} keeping you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife. {25} Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes, {26} for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life. {27} Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? {28} Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? {29} So is he who sleeps with another man's wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished. {30} Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger when he is starving. {31} Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold, though it costs him all the wealth of his house. {32} But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself. {33} Blows and disgrace are his lot, and his shame will never be wiped away; {34} for jealousy arouses a husband's fury, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge. {35} He will not accept any compensation; he will refuse the bribe, however great it is.

(Prov 2:1-2 NIV) My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, {2} turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding,

(Prov 2:16-19 NIV) It will save you also from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words, {17} who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. {18} For her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead. {19} None who go to her return or attain the paths of life.

(Mal 2:16 NIV) "I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel, "and I hate a man's covering himself with violence as well as with his garment," says the LORD Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.

(Gen 1:27 NIV) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Friday

(Isa 62:5 NIV) As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.

(Rev 19:7-9 NIV) Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. {8} Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) {9} Then the angel said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!'" And he added, "These are the true words of God."

The Adventist Home, pp. 97 - 128 (Not included with lesson help)

The Ministry of Healing, pp. 356 - 362 (Not included with lesson help)

Mind, Character, and Personality, vol. 1, pp. 218 - 239 (Not included with lesson help)

The Adventist Home, p. 103

Solemn Promises - My brother, your wife's time and strength and happiness are now bound up with yours. Your influence over her may be a savor of life unto life or of death unto death. Be very careful not to spoil her life. My sister, you are now to learn your first practical lessons in regard to the responsibilities of married life. Be sure to learn these lessons faithfully day by day. . . . Guard constantly against giving way to selfishness. In your life union your affections are to be tributary to each other's happiness. Each is to minister to the happiness of the other. This is the will of God concerning you. But while you are to blend as one, neither of you is to lose his or her individuality in the other. God is the owner of your individuality. Of Him you are to ask: What is right? What is wrong? How may I best fulfill the purpose of my creation? A Pledge Before Heavenly Witnesses --God has ordained that there should be perfect love and harmony between those who enter into the marriage relation. Let bride and bridegroom, in the presence of the heavenly universe, pledge themselves to love each other as God has ordained they should. . . . The wife is to respect and reverence her husband, and the husband is to love and cherish his wife. Men and women, at the beginning of married life, should reconsecrate themselves to God.

(1 Cor 7:6 NIV) I say this as a concession, not as a command.

(1 Cor 7:10 NIV) To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband.

(1 Cor 7:12 NIV) To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.

(1 Cor 7:25 NIV) Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy.

(1 Cor 7:35 NIV) I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.

(1 Cor 7:40 NIV) In my judgment, she is happier if she stays as she is--and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.