What stereotypes come to mind when you hear the phrase ‘being single’? Lonely? Picky? Incomplete? Prudish? Indecisive? These are just a few of the negative thoughts that might come to mind if you listen to what culture is saying about singleness.
But why? Why is being single a bad thing? In today’s Christian society, often times well-meaning people feed the stigma that being single is a negative, but it is well past time Christians start breaking the singleness stereotype.
Jesus calls us to respond differently to the things the world tells us; our response to singleness is no exception. The Lord says to us in Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
After listening to the MercyTalk Podcast, “Singleness: How Do We Respond”, I was able to get some serious insight into how we can better love, understand, and include single people both in our personal lives and within the church and help break the singleness stereotype.
Top Three Takeaways
Never make assumptions
You wouldn’t want someone making assumptions about the way you feel in your relationship, just as the single people in your life don’t want you making assumptions about the way they feel about being single. They could be content in where they are, or they could be struggling, but asking how they are feeling is always better than assuming.
Engage and encourage them
Help encourage your single friends in what they need encouragement in. Not what you think they might need, like advising them to ‘put themselves out there’, or not to be ‘too picky’. Encourage them in their identity in Christ and come alongside them as they pursue the plans that God has for them.
Invite them to be a part of your life
Ask them to family dinner. Invite them to Holidays. Sure, meeting for dinner or coffee outside of your home is great, but allow your single friends to spend time with your family and not just you. Fully embracing anyone means that they are a part of every aspect of your life, your single friends included.
Of course, being single comes with its challenges, but so does being in a relationship. In other words, living life no matter what your relationship status is comes with its own challenges. Being open, transparent, and taking the time to listen to the single people in your life and breaking the singleness stereotype that often surround our single friends is great way to show Jesus’s love to those around us.
