From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none.

1 Corinthians 7:29b

Paul is giving his opinions in 1 Corinthians 7. We don’t have to obey the opinions of other Christians. We can listen and weigh them against God’s word, but we aren’t obliged to obey them. There are men who have sought to obey the verse I quoted and have abandoned their families for what they supposed was right. It is wrong. It violates principles in Ephesians 5 & 6.

Paul basically says it would be best if no Christian ever marry. But marriage is a picture of Christ and the church!

“But the married woman is anxious … how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, … to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 7:34b-35

My application of these verses harmed my marriage because I didn’t see it as one man’s opinion. I believed I couldn’t be fully devoted to the Lord as a married woman, and I accepted that for a time. I thought it just the way it was. After all, it was in the Bible. I devoted myself to my husband. It was wrong. Now, I show my full devotion to the Lord through my marriage.

When Paul says, “I don’t permit a woman to teach,” he’s sharing his personal decision. Like today’s reading, it’s not a command from the Lord.