“He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord.”
1 Corinthians 7.32
“I would be married but I’d have no wife; I would be married to a single life. "
Richard Crashaw (On Marriage)
In this chapter I am not so much addressing those who are planning and looking forward to marriage. They may not yet be in the 'United States', but are probably at the 'Cape of Good Hope'! I have in mind rather, those who have remained unmarried, whether by deliberate choice, disappointment, or maybe special circumstances.
Whatever the reason, they have forfeited, or have had to forfeit, the particular joys of marriage and family life, and I have included them in our studies because their state is mentioned in Scripture.