First Class Singles Part I

Cheryl Martin is an accomplished media personality who gave this sermon at Set The Captives Free church in Maryland. It was an inspiring speech and I thought I'd share the information in a series with my readers. For more information on Cheryl Martin, please visit her website at http://www.cherylmartin.org/index.html

Cheryl Martin: First Class Single

This is the season for singles to be first class singles. When I say single, I’m talking about that you are single, if you have never been married, you are divorced, you are a single parent or you are widowed. If you are between the ages of 16-66, it is my prayer that from this day forward whenever you wake up in the morning, you will look yourself in the mirror and declare “I am a first class single”.

What does it mean when I say I am a first class single? First of all it is a mindset. How ever you see yourself, other people will take that cue from you and respond accordingly. Proverbs 23:7 says as a man or woman thinks in his heart, so is he. First class means exceptional, a cut above, not mediocre, first rate and I believe we as Christian singles should have higher standards because the God we serve has a high standard.

Everything God does, he does with excellence and it is exceptional. We are his children, so that means if we are to represent Christ, we are his ambassadors, so people are going to get an impression about God based on how we conduct ourselves. This means if we are his representative, we should live by his rules. We must govern our lives by a higher standard because we are first class. So I encourage you this morning to raise the bar high. To be distinctively different from this culture in how you approach your life, and in how you live out your singleness. I believe that Christian singles should be the most confident singles walking the earth. We are to be the most confident singles, not depressed and not needy, because the God of the universe is our father who is busy orchestrating only his best for us.

Our singleness is not a mistake, it’s not a curse but it’s simply a course or the road we are on today. Now we don’t know how long we will be on this road. It’s not a mistake because God never makes mistakes; all of his ways are right, so that means he didn’t forget you or give your package to someone else. You may have thought he was your good thing because psalm 84:11 says he will withhold no good thing from those who walk upright. You thought she was your good thing. There were times when I thought he was my good thing, but he kept walking and he didn’t get that memo. I asked God what happened, but I had to go back to what psalm 84:11 says. I thought he was, but he was not in agreement so he was not God’s good thing for me.

So how do we make the most of this season of singleness since we are on this road of singleness and we don’t know how long we will be on it. How do we make the most of it and be first class? I want to share with you six foundation principles for being a first class single, that we can apply in our lives and if we can line up with these principles, they will help us when and if it is God’s will for us to be in a first class marriage.