Before closing out this series at the end of the week, I wanted to share with you three books that have had a huge and helpful impact on my life regarding singleness and relationships.

Sacred Search –  what if it’s not about who you marry, by why? – Gary Thomas

What if we treated our search for a spouse as sacred? What if we looked at the importance of finding a sole mate (someone to walk with), not just a soul mate?  Gary Thomas, in Sacred Search, explores what it would look like to seek first the Kingdom of God, in our search for a spouse. When we realize why want to get married, that will determine the who.  Practical and straight forward, this is a book is a gift I’ve given to many. (Click here)

If you look at the question of why you want to marry before you choose who to marry, you’re more likely to make a wiser choice about the who. It’s not a choice between either why or who. It’s that asking the why question first helps you choose the best who. (Thomas, p. 250)

 

Passion and Purity – brining your love life under Jesus Christ’s control. – Elisabeth Elliot

If I could meet one person, it would be Elisabeth Elliot. Her and her husband Jim’s life, journals and writings have impacted me beyond words. In Passion and Purity, Elisabeth shares her journey of uncertainty and surrender in following the Lord’s call on her life for five years while she was in love with Jim. It was a daily process of laying down her desires with no guarantee that they would marry. She learned what it was to give back her dreams to the Lord, and there find a way to live life fully alive as a single.

“Every reminder that aroused a longing had to be offered up. There is a big however. It is this: We are not meant to die merely in order to be dead. God could not want that for the creatures to whom  He has given the breath of life. We die in order to live.” (Elliot, p.73)

What Are You Waiting For?  the one thing no on ever tells you about sex. – Dannah Gresh 

Hands down, this is the best book I have ever read on waiting for sex till marriage. Dannah jumps into the Hebrew word for intimacy ‘yada’ and explains why we should wait over just saying don’t. Strangely enough ‘Yada’ is used in scripture to talk about sex but also to talk about knowing the Lord. I promise it’s not creepy.  Pick up a copy and find out why! (Click here)

“Yada is a word of intimacy that transcends the physical. It describes the whole knowing of a person. It portrays an uncovering an an embrace of the nakedness of another. There are no secrets and nothing is held back.” (Gresh, p.24)

Living Single and Fully Alive today means learning from those who have gone before!

“3 Foundational Books Every Single Should Read“ is a part of the “Today’s The Day: Being Single and Fully Alive” a 31 Days Series. To read more from this series please click here.

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